Le coup d’état bureaucratique de la Turquie

Jan 10, 2014 Ertan Aydin

ANKARA – La semaine dernière, le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a intensifié la réponse de son gouvernement aux enquêtes de corruption qui secouent le pays depuis décembre en restructurant les directions du système judiciaire et de la police. Mais ce serait une erreur d’y voir un conflit entre l’exécutif et le système judiciaire, ou une tentative de couvrir les accusations qui ont entrainé la démission de trois ministres. Il est surtout question ici de l’indépendance et de l’impartialité des autorités de renforcement de la loi. En effet, compte tenu d’accusations de fabrication de preuves, Erdoğan déclare maintenant ne pas être opposé à ce que certains cadres de l’armée accusés de complot contre son gouvernement soient rejugés.

Les récents développements reflètent l’ampleur du fossé qui sépare le gouvernement Erdoğan et le mouvement Gülen, dirigé par Fethullah Gülen, prédicateur islamique auto-exilé résident actuellement près de Philadelphie. Le mouvement Gülen fut un soutien important du Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP) au pouvoir, et à ses efforts pour établir un contrôle civil sur l’armée pendant les deux premiers mandats de l’AKP. Aujourd’hui cependant, le mouvement semble avoir fomenté son propre coup.

De nombreux membres du système judiciaire et des forces de police, impliqués dans la vague d’accusations pour corruption de responsables du gouvernement, d’hommes d’affaire et de familiers d’hommes politiques, sont liés au mouvement Gülen. Ce qui avait commencé comme une simple enquête pour des faits présumés de corruption s’est rapidement transformé en une campagne de sabotage orchestrée par l’opposition.

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Mazhar Can Feb 11, 2014

It may be easy to deceive locals with these canards but informed outsiders will simply not buy it.

By the way, not a single word about the graft scandal?

Well as Schopenhauer once said 'will minus intellect constitutes vulgarity'.
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j. von Hettlingen Jan 12, 2014

As Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's senior adviser, Mr. Aydin is trying to shed a different light on the political scandal, that might undermine prime minister's undeclared ambition to be elected president this summer and tarnish Turkey's image as a successful Muslim democracy with a future in the European Union.
Mr. Aydin writes, "amid charges of fabricated evidence, Erdoğan now says that he is not opposed to retrials for senior military officers convicted of plotting to overthrow his government". Prime minister's apparent political turnaround can be seen as an opportunity to correct possible injustices, or an overdue chance to reform Turkey's discredited judicial system.
Yet many are sceptical about the timing and motives behind this move. In the Ergenekon and Balyoz (Sledgehammer) trials, many innocents are said to have been convicted. That Erdogan now urges for retrials could be part of a strategy to embrace the military in his power struggle with the Gulen movement.
How is this going to end, depends on whether the two political rivals - Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fethullah Gulen can reconciliate. Both had once been allies in weakening the all-powerful military's hold over politics. After that achievement mutual distrust grew and the power struggle began. The government had Gulen schools shut down, which - possibly - has triggered this corruption probe.
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Mehmet Akgunay Jan 10, 2014

The timing and the way the charges came about can be questioned, however the government is doing everything it can to stop the investigations with no respect to democracy and the rule of law. The following questions remain unanswered, and I am afraid will be left that way.

1-All and any police officers who came even close to the investigation was assigned to other duty stations. If there was an unlawful action undertaken by these officers why weren't they suspended pending investigation?

2-There is a standing judge order for the Prime Ministers son to come into questioning, which he has not honored, is the son of Mr. Erdogan above the law and why hasn't he still not given the statement he was ordered to give?

3-11 Years of being in power, has the government just realized that there is something wrong with the system?

4-The government through legislation is trying to give complete power of the Judiciary to the Executive branch. Is this the Democracy AKP is rooting for? The mindset of AKP is that they have received 50% of the votes and that entitles them to an unchecked reign of power.

5-There are numerous orders by Judges for persons of interest to be be brought in for questioning but the Government is not allowing the police force to execute these orders, is this not against the rule of law?

6- Every action the government has taken since December 17th has been to derail the investigations and to break the division of powers for the benefit of the executive branch.

While these questions and many more remain unanswered the only issue discussed by the officials, the only discussion point is the timing and the way it came out. Lets put that aside and discuss the horrendous charges.
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