Written evidence from Republican Peoples Party CHP (TUR0038)
The issue here is not on broadening or regulating the powers of an institution of the State of Republic of Turkey. The purpose is to broaden the powers of an individual, i.e. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, by broadening his own powers, intends to legitimize a regime which excludes anyone but his own voters. This is what The Republican People’s Party objects and wants to be questioned.
Erdoğan, as he confessed, does not recognize the constitution ipso facto, and occupies the Presidency. Each time the opposition criticizes the government, Erdoğan replies in the name of the governing party, despite the Constitutional requirement that the President has to be above party politics. He thus ignores the principle of checks and balances. His statements, meetings and actions dominate the legislative, executive and judiciary bodies and he considers none of the government offices as decision makers, except himself. What epitomizes this is the resignation of Ahmet Davutoğlu: The prime minister of the 62nd government was relieved of his duty by Erdoğan’s word. Erdoğan does not only intervene in the parliamentary works and in legal cases, but also keeps the media under his thumb. All these evidences manifest that broadening of his powers would legitimize Erdoğan’s acts, which contradict the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, the Universal Law, and democracy.
Since the failed coup d’état attempt on July 15th and declaration of the state of emergency on July 21st, thousands of soldiers, tens of thousands of public officers, hundreds of journalists and writers have been arrested. Over a hundred thousand public servants were suspended and discharged. Nevertheless, the planners of the coup and their contacts among politicians have not been brought out into the open. Some arrested people were released, and it turned out that some of them were confessors. Meanwhile, the scope of arrests, suspensions and discharges have extended to include individuals who had nothing to do with Gulen movement.
The enforcements in the scope of the state of emergency have become the means of oppression over all sorts of opposition. The members and administrators of trade unions have either been arrested or discharged. These trade unions were the ones that raised their voice against the politics executed together by the Gülen movement and the AKP, and that have already been dealing with legal courts because of their opposition.
The decrees by the power of law issued in the scope of the state of emergency after July 15th, many regulations irrelevant to the coup have been made, many opponent newspapers, such as Cumhuriyet, and many institutions were closed down. Tens of thousands of public servants were relieved of their duties by decrees, without any judicial process. The judges and prosecutors who made decisions on the arrests, the police officers who executed the arrests, and the security intelligence personnel who conducted the investigation were either arrested or charged with being member of Gülen movement.
A very interesting and thought-provoking fact is that the president of the commission which investigates the coup in Turkish Grand National Assembly is Reşat Petek, Gülen’s former lawyer.
All these prosecutions, i.e. arrests, newspaper closures, investigations, especially due to membership to a smartphone app By-Lock, have been ambiguous and unreliable.
The following questions remain unanswered: Was the coup d’état directed by Gülen himself? If it was planned by Gülenists in Turkey, how many of them have been arrested? How many of them are still wanted by the police? Why were a group of the arrested were released, and on what terms? Who are in charge of it politically?
Many annual human rights reports enlist Turkey in the bottom rows. The discreditable state of Turkish democracy consists of thousands of European Court of Human Rights files about journalists and dissidents under arrest in every year. The governing party, AKP, dares to declare the head of the main opposition party as a national security problem. This shows the extent of intolerance of differences.
The administrators and members of syndicates and non-governmental organizations face intense pressure. Ethnic and sectarian discrimination politics has become another means of oppression. Alawite citizens of Turkey are suffering severe suppression. Alevi assembly houses or Cemevis are still not recognized as legal places of worship. After the June 2015 elections, President Erdoğan declared that the solution process came to an end, and this carried terror to an uncontrollable extent. The Kurdish issue was thus deadlocked. The co-chairs and MPs of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have been arrested. The arrests were linked to “terrorist propaganda”, and this made the problem of democracy deeper.
The legal acquisitions of Christian, Jewish, Yazidi, and Assyrian minorities are seized. For instance, an Assyrian church in Mardin has been put up for sale, an old Armenian school in İstanbul has been demolished, Yazidi citizens have been accused of impiety. The minorities in Turkey are increasingly concerned about the security of their life and property.
All the facts mentioned above, the recent atmosphere does not allow experiencing proper democracy.
Turkey has been in the process of becoming a member of EU. EU membership has always been initial electoral promise in every electoral period. The founders and administrators of AKP, who used to be severe critics of EU in 1990s, referred to the membership process as their principal accomplishment. However, neither the recent decision of European Parliament on Turkey, nor the comments of Turkish authorities in reply surprises us.
The membership of Turkey, the democratic standards of which are below those of EU, can only be possible if the politics of annihilating human rights are immediately abandoned. EU countries’ negative opinion on Turkey results from the lack of a reliable economy and a consistent political regime. Over three million Syrian refugees have come with social and financial problems.
First and foremost, Turkey must reconstruct democracy with all its elements, and repair its failing human rights record. The basic concern is not to be or not to be a part of EU, but to provide a good, peaceful and safe life for all the citizens.
UK’s BRexit decision unfortunately paved the way for AKP government to criticize EU, as they could not succeed in completing the process successfully. Although UK and Turkey are indeed incomparable in terms of EU standards, Turkish authorities make use of BRexit and EU criticism as a means of internal affairs.
Turkey’s policy in Kurdish issue has long been one of the most important problems of the country. We have not only lost tens of thousands of our citizens, but also experienced a social polarization in the last thirty years. Turkish governments have always had specific manners towards Kurdish groups inside and outside the country. For instance, the two Kurdish political parties in Turkey, namely, HÜDA-PAR (associated with the militant organisation named Hizbullah) and the HDP (which received six and a half million votes in the last elections, and represented in the Parliament) are treated dramatically unequal by AKP government. The members and administrators of HÜDA-PAR who involved in (and in some cases, legally charged with) unresolved crimes and murders have always been quickly released, while many HDP MPs are in jail for their political speeches. This shows the AKP’s attitude towards these two groups. Academicians and journalists who signed the peace petition for the solution of Kurdish issue have either been arrested or relieved of their duties. As for the foreign affairs, the PYD is legally regarded as a terrorist organization, while the many other countries support its fight against ISIS. Kurdistan Regional Government leaded by Masoud Barzani is, however, Turkey’s ally. In terms of Kurdish political organizations in Europe, cases such as Sakine Cansız assassination made Turkish security services come under suspicion. All peoples in Turkey are unsettled by the AKP’s war politics on Kurdish issue, which began with the solution process and ended up with city battles. The solution process was interrupted since it was not conducted in a transparent way together with every segment of the society, nor was it discussed with all the political parties in the Parliament.
The Arab uprisings, when they broke up in Tunisia, found its echo in Turkish political arena in a weak manner. The civil war in Libya followed, and the groups supported by Europe overthrew Gaddafi, murdered US Consul and committed many crimes against humanity. The secular and progressive segments of Turkish society were deeply concerned about such a picture, since the ones who were fighting in Libya were jihadists from all the countries. This was unacceptable: The Arab Spring turned into a dark winter for us. Inconsistent statements of AKP government followed the events in Syria and Egypt, and then came foreign policy moves which have changed incoherently until today. The AKP government used to fully support the Muslim Brotherhood, however, after they were defeated, the AKP attempted to start talks with Sisi, the coup government. They also had to waive from the propaganda towards the Turkish Islamists. The very same contradiction is in charge today in Syrian context. The accusations on Turkey about the petrol trafficking with ISIS, and about the support provided to jihadists are very severe charges for the State of Republic of Turkey to be suited in international tribunals. Today, a retrospective reconsideration would reveal that the Arab Spring turned out to be a bloodbath for the Middle East peoples for five years.
We attribute utmost importance to the relationships between Turkey and the UK since the UK is not only one of the strongest states of Europe, but also Turkey ally in NATO. The Republican People’s Party is committed to keep our relationships well, however Erdoğan and AKP government’s attitudes and actions damage our foreign affairs. Their statements against the EU and NATO, although they stepped back, and the inconsistencies in foreign affairs such as presentation of the UK’s Brexit decision as a threat to Europe would unfortunately damage the relationship between the two countries in the long term.
Turkey is not Erdoğan. The UK and European countries should not accept Erdoğan’s refugee threats and not overlook the severe human rights violations in Turkey. It is a historical responsibility and obligation to take measures up to enforcements in order to save both the basic values of humanity and the future of peoples living in Turkey.
Military trainings, arms-deals and joint military drills are crucial practices under the roof of NATO. Turkey would be stronger with the UK’s and Europe’s support. However, after the Russian jet shot down, we believe that irresponsible actions that would push NATO countries into war with Russia should be avoided.
The operations of coalition against ISIS in Syria contradicts with Turkey’s relationship with ISIS. We believe that the joint military operations should directly target ISIS and protect the free will of Syrian peoples.
For all these, AKP government should first decisively keep the jihadist organizations in Syria at bay. As well known, the journalist Can Dündar and his colleagues are still on trial in the case of arms deliveries to ISIS in Turkish Intelligence trucks. Before the joint operations against ISIS, all these cases should be confronted.