My Saudi brother, you will soon return to Atatürk’s road
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia said on Oct. 24 that his country would return to a “moderate Islam that is open to all religions.”
I have looked at the reactions. The whole world is surprised.
I was not surprised, because I knew that common sense would prevail sooner or later. Because I knew that some Islamic practices do not conform to human nature. If there is a road civilization should take in order to save the Islamic world from the swamp, that road was laid out by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, 90 years ago. In the heart of all moderate Muslims, there is a trace of Atatürk.
I was certain that in the minds of every Muslim who lived in the 20th century, there was admiration for the road he paved.
And now the signs have started to return … The real Arab spring will arrive when the road Atatürk has shown the Muslim world is taken once again.
This decision may not save journalist Berberoğlu but it has saved Turkey
When I read about the official justification behind the decision for sentencing journalist Enis Berberoğlu (who was found guilty of “leaking state secrets” in the Syria-bound intelligence trucks case), this is what I wrote:
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the executives of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) should read this “justification” very carefully.
Because they have made it difficult to shut down a party. But the decision has shown that they have made it easy to get rid of an elected politician.
The Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry should read this justification very closely. What was their defense? This is what they have said from the start:
“The trucks were carrying humanitarian aid to Turkmen in Syria.”
Berberoğlu’s “justification” officially disproves the state’s argument. The decision had been written in such an unconscious manner that it could cause big trouble for Turkey in the future.
Law faculties should add this justification to their curriculum as a case study because it is rare to find a better example of the difference between “a legal justification explaining a decision at the end of a case” and “a written pretext for an unlawful decision.”
Historians and political scientists should read this decision carefully and keep it in their archives because in the future, it will be one of the best documents to explain “justice” in this period.
Thank God the superior court overturned the decision.
Be sure that this ruling has saved Turkey and its current leaders more than it has saved Enis. But then why is he still in jail?
If the justification for it is no longer there and the decision has been overturned, then why?
Better days will come and we will see them
I recently came across journalist Kadri Gürsel, who has been released from jail.
Despite the fact that he spent nearly a year behind bars, I saw neither in his face nor his conversation the signs of a person on a quest for revenge. It seems that even unfair jail time had not created a buildup of anger and hate within him. Moreover, he had come out optimistic rather than pessimistic. “Good days will come and we will see them,” he said recently in an interview. I agree... I share his optimism.
