Turkey on Trial
In a Hollywood courtroom drama, you know that the hero, set up by the bad guys, will eventually be cleared – but not before the noose tightens around his neck. If Turkey’s ongoing political-military trials ever find their way to the screen, there will be no shortage of such denouements.
ISTANBUL – In a Hollywood courtroom drama, you know that the hero, set up by the bad guys, will eventually be cleared – but not before the noose tightens around his neck. Just when it looks like the accumulating evidence has condemned him, a sudden turn of events will prove his innocence and expose those who framed him.
If Turkey’s ongoing political-military trials ever find their way to the screen, there will be no shortage of such denouements. In a series of bizarre prosecutions, Turkish courts have jailed hundreds of defendants – military officers, journalists, academics, and lawyers – for allegedly plotting to topple the country’s democratically elected government.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promotes the trials as evidence of Turkey’s new turn towards democracy and the rule of law. They are also actively supported by news media belonging to the so-called Gülen group – a powerful ally of Erdoğan’s government made up of followers of the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen. In reality, the trials amount to a grave breach of the rule of law, with the judiciary transformed into a political weapon aimed at opponents of the government and the Gülen movement.
ISTANBUL – In a Hollywood courtroom drama, you know that the hero, set up by the bad guys, will eventually be cleared – but not before the noose tightens around his neck. Just when it looks like the accumulating evidence has condemned him, a sudden turn of events will prove his innocence and expose those who framed him.
If Turkey’s ongoing political-military trials ever find their way to the screen, there will be no shortage of such denouements. In a series of bizarre prosecutions, Turkish courts have jailed hundreds of defendants – military officers, journalists, academics, and lawyers – for allegedly plotting to topple the country’s democratically elected government.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promotes the trials as evidence of Turkey’s new turn towards democracy and the rule of law. They are also actively supported by news media belonging to the so-called Gülen group – a powerful ally of Erdoğan’s government made up of followers of the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen. In reality, the trials amount to a grave breach of the rule of law, with the judiciary transformed into a political weapon aimed at opponents of the government and the Gülen movement.