Well done Haşim Kılıç

It was after Feb. 28; Ahmet Necdet Sezer had become the President of the Constitutional Court. In the speeches he delivered from the stand, he was uttering freedom, democracy, human rights and universal standards.

Because we were fed up with the local standards of the Feb. 28-era, we clung to these words. There were enthusiastic headlines in conservative publications: “Democracy and freedom manifest from Constitutional Court President Sezer.”

Tayyip Erdoğan also embraced Sezer’s speeches, so did Abdullah Gül…

Later, also with some influence from these speeches, Sezer was elected president. The politicians who were subjected to the evils of Feb. 28 also voted for Sezer.

The result? The result has been a total disappointment. During his presidential term, Sezer forgot all about freedom, universal standards, democracy and human rights. He became a beetle-browed guardian of the regime.

The person who was delivering freedom speeches was gone and became a president chasing bureaucrats whose wives wore headscarves.

I later learned that behind those pro-freedom speeches Sezer delivered while president of the Constitutional Court was the influence of the member of the Constitutional Court of the time, Haşim Kılıç.

The texts were written by Kılıç and Sezer was reading them.

While I was listening Kılıç’s speech April 25, I remembered Sezer’s liberal speeches.

I felt the same enthusiasm I had felt while listening to Kılıç as I did Sezer.

I am in the mood, you know, to write headlines without hesitation, saying, “Democracy, law and freedom manifest from Haşim Kılıç.”

You may be wondering whether I was not once burnt by Sezer and shouldn’t I be twice as shy about Kılıç.

My reply is this: I have total confidence in Kılıç.

I trust him because the declarations of freedom Sezer was not able to internalize is adopted by Kılıç. He may take higher positions or he may retire, Kılıç will never be an anti-freedom guardian of the regime. He was defending freedom at the time of the military tutelage and he is doing it now.

It is not a concrete presumption that Kılıç has spoken as such because he has intentions to become president. Kılıç is of a caliber that he would do the same regardless of a presidential election process.
For these reasons, I am saying, “Well done, Haşim Kılıç” And I am so sure of myself that I will never regret having said that.

Who is Haşim Kılıç?

His wife wears a headscarf. He had been appointed by former President Turgut Özal. During his term, he has never, ever adopted an anti-freedom stance. In several cases, primarily in the political party closure cases, he adopted a pro-freedom stance with the dissenting opinions he wrote. While everybody was trying to save the day during the military tutelage era, he did not hesitate to take a liberal stance. His approach on human rights and freedoms is clear and strong. He has protected the right of those to govern who were legitimately elected. Because of his stance during the military tutelage era, he has caused reactions from those in power. During the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) era, he was contrary to the government only in the topics of individual rights and freedoms.