Arrested deputies do not deserve this
How weird are we? We even forget what we, ourselves, once had to go through.
Right now nine deputies, elected by people’s votes, who were told: “You are to represent us,” are still held in jail.
Why?
We have interpreted the constitution and the laws in such a way that in the end we have condemned them to prison. This stemmed from a mutual showdown. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), opposition parties Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) knew that they might face such an outcome, but, nevertheless, they wanted to score points against the ruling party, they wanted to demonstrate that they “do not care” about the cases opened. The ruling party, on the other hand, resisted being scored against, and did everything it possibly can to prolong the process.
Everybody has a signature on this shame. In other words, all of these deputies were sacrificed for political games.
Months have passed and the issue has not been solved.
To be frank, the person to genuinely work on the issue, the most constructive person who looked for a way out was Speaker of Parliament Cemil Çiçek. He spoke to the Prime Minister, he warned the parties and he explained to the public.
Actually, he is right. We should not forget that these people are our representatives. To keep them in jail based on a technical interpretation does not befit, at all, this Parliament and its deputies, whichever party they belong to.
Especially, deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) know very well the games that were played against them back in the day. They should not now deem their own colleagues worthy of the same games and political fights.
We should not forget that the trap designed for somebody else to fall into today may just as well swallow you tomorrow.
Leave the political row and end this business…
The MHP should give up its persistence. The AK Parti should stop dragging it out.
Our privacy has been ruined
We are acting as if it was normal. We somehow became accustomed to it. Everybody is being tapped. We are not able to speak freely on our phones anymore. Despite all this, there is no sign of revolt in society.
Speaker of Parliament Cemil Çiçek’s speech the other day contained many striking elements:
“We cannot sit down and talk frankly with a few people. Next day, it is in the papers, audio surveillance, or whatever … The fact that this is illegal may not mean anything in the legal environment. If a conversation between two people is in the papers the next day, then developments in the field of penal code are nothing beside this. They have already put a complete end to you. Even if you are acquitted in the end, even if there is no legal result, in the eyes of the public you have lost your professional credibility of 30 years, your family’s reputation. Hostility comes inside your home, among your friends. You go through such uneasiness and nuisance.”
The only way out of this dead end is to write a new constitution.
We have this opportunity ahead of us, but we cannot somehow focus our energy on the writing of the constitution, recovering from other items on the agenda.
In short, we cannot see our own interests clearly.
