Will President Gül retire?
President Abdullah Gül has announced that he will not run for presidency again.
According to his statement, he had told Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before the local elections that he would not run again.
I do not understand why he has hidden this from us, “the national will,” until today. This question was asked to him at least 10 times and each time he gave an answer in the lines of “you’ll find out when the time comes.” In Uşak, for instance, he had said “We’ll see.”
There is a question without an answer. Will President Gül stay in politics after the end of his tenure, or will he retreat to his corner to enjoy retirement?
I do not think the second option will make Gül happy. If we are to remember that he said a while ago that, “I will not continue in politics under these circumstances,” I have the feeling he will have a broken heart. Because what he means by “under these circumstances” is nothing other than Erdoğan’s wish for a “puppet prime minister.”
Actually, we could say that Gül wishes to remain active in politics and dreams of heading the party he was a founding member of. It is known that many within the Justice and Development Party (AKP) have such a desire. The problem is the prime minister’s “wish to work with a different type of prime minister” should he be elected president.
What will determine Gül’s political future is for Erdoğan to see, in the next general election, if his plans are actually compatible with real life.
If Erdoğan is able to see that he can do as he plans, then there is no option left for Gül, but retirement.
Toward a one man rule
Everything has been redesigned so it will pass into a “one man, one party” type of rule after the prime minister is elected as president.
A recent judicial package with 105 articles was endorsed by Parliament and Gül signed it without delay.
According to the amendment administrative judiciary, it will be redesigned. Some 900 new judges will be appointed for the investigations and these appointments will be done by the Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges (HSYK) chamber chosen by the justice minister.
These judges could conduct the investigations they want, close the ones they want and make all of these decisions by themselves.
They wish to create a judiciary loyal to the government.
With this last signature from the president, the government’s coup against an independent judiciary is complete. It is no longer possible to talk about the independence of the judiciary.
Turkey is sliding very quickly toward a one man rule.
Can there be political speeches at an iftar dinner?
With the start of Ramadan, “mass iftars” have also started. Prominent politicians, first and foremost, the prime minister, attend mass iftars and they deliver political speeches after desert.
We cannot say this is good for digestion because with the blood sugar level increasing after a heavy meal, the audience will be sleeping while listening. Sleeping right after a meal is not good for the health; let me warn the participants.
While the politicians deliver their speeches at these iftar dinners, they do not, of course, talk about the significance of Ramadan or the value of fasting.
They act just the opposite of what they should at the peaceful moment: They rage with all their nervousness. I give the championship cup to the prime minister on this.
