August struck with fervor of political events, and terrorism crossed the red line, taking more people’s lives. Tension is growing every day, which corresponds to an integrated plan of President Rejep Tayyip Erdogan. The serious refugee problem, the threat of ISIS is growing on the southern border, and that means violence, death and the drama of human lives.
This article originally appeared at Regnum, translated by Olga Seletskaia exclusively for SouthFront
Former adviser to Erdogan to stand trial for espionage
A criminal case was initiated with respect to the former adviser to the head of state Mohamed Taha Gergerlioglu and his two colleagues detained by Germany in December on suspicion of espionage. Higher District Court of Koblenz ruled accordingly, based on the evidence and the proved facts.
The first hearing was held on September 9. Along with Gergerlioglu, a 59-year-old citizen of Turkey, Ahmet Duran J., as well as a citizen of the German 34-year-old Mr. Goksel appeared on the case. Gergerlioglu was arrested on December 17, 2014 and he currently remains in custody. In the past, he held various administrative positions, he worked as an advisor to the Prime Minister Erdogan, and he was a member of the Steering Committee at the Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) and a member of the executive board of the bank Halk.
Republican People’s Party demands to subpoena Erdogan and his associates, four ex-ministers
The deputy of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Fikri Saglar tabled a proposal to the Parliament to initiate a special investigation against Rejep Tayyip Erdogan, a former interior minister Muammera Guler, former Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and his colleagues in the Ministry of Environment Erdogan Bayraktar, as well as ex-minister EU Affairs Egemen Bagis.
Saglar passed to the speaker of the parliament 5 detailed proposals. The indictment against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the two ministers and their children contains detention order, as well as documents with charges related to the events of December 17, 2013. We are talking about a bribe to authorized persons of the Prosecutor’s Office of Istanbul, forgery and attempting to illegally amend the law on smuggling.
The Council of State has rejected the Turkish President’s Project.
According to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 27 April 2012, the palace “Aksaray” (Turkish “Aksaray”- “White Palace”) was built in the beginning for the Prime Minister, but closer to its completion, it was renamed into the Presidential Palace. The construction budget amounted to about $ 2 billion. The object is located in a conservation area of Ankara Forestry named after Ataturk.
Chamber of Architects, Chamber of Agricultural Engineers, Chamber of Engineers in landscape improvement, the Ankara branch of the Chamber of Engineers for Urban Development and the mayor of Ankara initiated a criminal case with regard to the Prime Minister. The Council of State ruled in favour of the plaintiffs.
Tezdzhan Karakush Jandan, Chairman of the Ankara branch of the Chamber of Architects, prepared a written statement: “The palace is built illegally, and it should be vacated immediately; the president should move back to his former residence in Chankaye. If we want to live in a country with the rule of laws, the first thing to do is to put an end to the case of gross violation – illegal construction of the presidential residence in the Ankara forestry named after Ataturk. Each violation of the law indicates a new crime of the first persons of the state. ”
Persecution
Association Birleşik Kamu-İş Konfederasyonu filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office in Ankara on the following statement of President Erdogan: “The system of government in Turkey has changed.” The written statement of the Association refers to Erdogan’s speech in Rize on August 14, 2015. “In his statement the president says about the change of the republican regime, parliamentary democracy and the detachment from the Ataturk’s principles, as well as the actual change of the country with the rule of law. Erdogan eloquently stated that the new system in the state is a dictatorship, deprived of rights and laws. Consequently, in his understanding, Erdogan changed the form of republican government and the articles of the Constitution, which is in legal terms, absolutely unacceptable. This gives him the authority to violate the existing Constitution. At the same time, being elected as president, he pledged to act as guarantor of the existing Constitution, “- the document says.
Referring to Art. 309 of Turkish Penal Code, which describes the consequences of a breach of the Constitution , the prosecution said: “This clear evidence of violations committed by Tayyip Erdogan withdraws his immunity status. We argue that Erdogan should be brought to justice and be punished for his crimes accordingly. For this reason, we appeal to the prosecutor.”
Obama refused audience
President Erdogan insistently wanted to meet with Barack Obama in August or September, but Washington refused. The official reason was as follows: “Because of the tight schedule, President Barack Obama does not have the opportunity to meet in the near future. The right time and place for the meeting – G-20 summit – to be held in November this year in Antalya.” As a revenge, Erdogan authorized Davutogl to participate at the jubilee 70th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York in September.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Ministry has provided the US Air Force the right to use “all the military bases” in the country. The Turkish fighters attacked bases of ISIS and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Syria and Iraq. More than 20 aircrafts took off to the skies in Diyarbakir. The air strikes inflicted such settlements as Zap, Gare, Haftanin, Metin and Avashin.
An emergency meeting on national security issues was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in Chankayskom Palace. The Prime Minister promised that the fight against terrorism will continue. The statement stressed that the base of the “Islamic state” and the PKK in Syria and Iraq will be attacked .
Wiretapping has not been confirmed
Hasan Palaz, the former deputy head of the Council for Scientific and Technological Research (TÜBİTAK), denied a report that the summit on Syria, held in Germany by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, was tapped by the Americans. Palaz noted that the assumptions about listening do not correspond to reality, referring to the results of the expertise.
Justice and Development Party (AKP) which focuses on the “struggle” with the parallel structures, failed to respond adequately to real threats. How can someone conduct a secret meeting without taking the necessary safety measures? Former Ambassador Denise Bolyukbashi commented: “The problems of national security should be discussed in a special place, with a stipulated blocking of possible wiretapping. Until 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not have a specially equipped room. I doubt there is such a room now. Nothing has been done in response to the scandal with wiretapping.
A number of violations in the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recorded in the Minutes of the local prosecutor’s office. Only one surveillance camera is installed on the floor where the office is located, and this camera does not cover the elevators’ exits, or a number of other offices. “GSM Jammer equipment is also broken,” – the document says. Prosecutor Veli Dalgaly said that the order of July 9, 2014 to conduct investigation has never been executed. Over the past two years, the US, England and Germany are being wiretapping Turkey. However, Ankara prefers to gloss over this fact, avoiding any diplomatic statements.