Justice Minister should worry about Turkey, not the US

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ recently claimed that members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) living in the United States are taking Christian names and trying to infiltrate into religious groups there. 

“If you don’t take into consideration Turkey’s justified warnings stemming from its experiences, this network will easily conduct the treason that it has done to its own nation to you too,” Bozdağ said, warning the U.S.

We do not know how Bozdağ has obtained this information, or how many FETÖ members are infiltrating Christian cults. Since it’s coming from a cabinet minister, so we should assume it’s true!

However, I should remind the justice minister that for the FETÖ members to seize the state to a great extent like they did in Turkey, it is not sufficient they only enter religious orders. They should find “fertile land,” as they did in Turkey, in order to become the kind of threat he depicted. 

We know what this “fertile land” is. Before anything else, state administrators should view them as “heading toward the same aim on different paths.” Remember, the most authorized person in Turkey once admitted that this was what the government thought. Then they need the kind of political will that would open the way for them to climb the career ladders in the state. 

I don’t know whether such a political will shall be formed in the U.S. Even if it does, strong institutions can protect themselves from this because on the whole such institutions demand aptitude and competency.

The infiltration of FETÖ members in Turkey was possible largely because favoritism took the place of competence.

In a country where there is law, where the justice system can maintain its independence against the political authority, “conspiracy” cases cannot be opened and such secret networks cannot be tolerated. 

For this reason, the justice minister should not be worried about the U.S. What he should be worried about is which other cults are filling the places vacated by FETÖ members. 

Unfortunately, the correct antidote to the FETÖ network, the concept of “competence,” has still not arrived in our land.

Settings disrupted

Turkey’s state-run radio and television station TRT started by calling it the “justice march,” started individually by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. 

After it gained momentum and turned into a mass movement, it started calling it the “so-called justice march.”

We have all become accustomed to this public broadcaster, which operates with the taxes of all citizens, being the voice of the government. But obviously the panic that is dominating government circles has also affected TRT, because it is not even aware of the connotations of the words they use. 

The name of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) contains the word “justice.” However, we are currently going through a period in which “justice” has been badly wounded in Turkey. 

Before this party came to power, justice in Turkey was problematic. It was never independent and impartial. However, we are witnessing the complete disappearance of the independence of the judiciary in this government’s era. 

We have experienced the effort to crush the opposition with “conspiracy” cases. We have experienced the Fethullahist gang dominating in the state and the armed forces. 

In the old days, the search for “justice” drew condemnations from governments of the time. Today’s government does the same today. They were wrong then; they are also wrong today. 

The demand for “justice” has found mass support. A wise government would draw the necessary lessons from this, listen to the demands for justice, and strengthen its position. 

But this is not happening. Society is now even more polarized over the simple demand for “justice.”