Turkey has ‘thirst for justice’: Kemal

900 public sector workers sacked

ÇANAKKALE, Turkey, Aug 26, (AFP): Turkey’s main opposition leader on Saturday opened a four day “justice congress” highlighting alleged injustices under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying the country has a “thirst for justice”.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), spoke to thousands gathered for the event at an open-air site in the northwestern province of Canakkale. “Eighty million have a thirst for justice,” Kilicdaroglu said, referring to Turkey’s population.

Kilicdaroglu earlier this summer walked 450 kilometres (280 miles) from Istanbul to Ankara to protest against the sentencing of one of his MPs, Enis Berberoglu, to 25 years in jail for leaking classified information to an opposition newspaper.

Under the simple slogan “justice”, the march culminated last month in a huge rally in Istanbul that attracted hundreds of thousands, the biggest event staged by Erdogan’s critics in years.

“It is my duty to seek justice. It is my duty to stand by the innocent and be against tyrants,” Kilicdaroglu told the crowds on Saturday.

More than 50,000 people have been arrested under Turkey’s state of emergency, imposed after a failed coup against Erdogan in July 2016, and almost three times that number have lost their jobs, including teachers, judges, soldiers and police officers. Kilicdaroglu condemned the crackdown as a “civilian coup” -- which took place for the first time in the history of the modern republic after the botched military putsch.

“Thousands of academics have been dismissed from universities,” the opposition leader said. “Prisons are full of journalists. MPs are in jail”.

Kilicdaroglu said Berberoglu’s sentencing “became the last straw.”

“We have a lot of citizens who are in prison just because they are in opposition,” he said. “To fight for rights is the duty of this country’s brave people.”

The congress will see several daily sessions on different rights violations in Turkey, the first time the CHP has held such an event.

Quoting the famous Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, Kilicdaroglu said the theme of the congress would be: “To live like a tree, as free and independent, and also to be in the forests, all together, in peace.”

A photo depicting the CHP leader wearing a white undershirt while dining in a trailer during the justice march went viral on social media but drew Erdogan’s wrath because he said it was an insult to Turks.

Kilicdaroglu responded that Erdogan needed to address the “country’s problems” instead of “bothering with my vest from morning to evening”.

That speech from Kilicdaroglu was interrupted by applause from the crowds chanting “rights, law and justice!”.

Purge

Meanwhile, Turkey has dismissed over 900 public sector officials in the latest wave of the purge that followed last year’s failed coup, according to an emergency decree published Friday.

A second decree said Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), which was previously under the prime minister, would now report to the president, expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s powers over public institutions. In another example of his growing control over major institutions, the president has been able to choose university rectors since a controversial emergency decree last October.

More than 140,000 people have been sacked or suspended including judges and prosecutors since July 2016 over alleged links to US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey has accused of ordering the attempted coup. Gulen has denied the charges.

More than 50,000 people including journalists have been arrested under the state of emergency imposed last year in a crackdown that has triggered international concern.

Critics have accused the government of using the state of emergency to crack down on all forms of opposition. But Turkish authorities insist it is necessary to ensure Turkey’s security from the multiple threats it faces from Gulen and Kurdish militants. A total of 928 people were sacked in the latest decree, including civil servants working in the defence, foreign and interior ministries as well as military personnel.

Turkish authorities also stripped 10 retired brigadier generals of their rank.

But the decree said 57 civil servants and military personnel returned to their jobs, including 28 from the justice ministry and related institutions.

Another 734 security personnel returned to their jobs after being suspended over suspected links to Gulen, the national security directorate said in a statement on its website.

Six organisations, including three media outlets in the southeast, were shut down including Dicle Media News Agency, based in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir.

Dozens of media outlets including newspapers and broadcasters have been closed down since July last year.

The second decree also gave the Turkish intelligence agency the power to investigate the defence ministry and Turkish armed forces personnel.

Erdogan’s authorisation would be needed for the intelligence chief to be investigated under the new decree.

The president would also need to approve any request made for the MIT head, currently Hakan Fidan, to act as a witness in court.

The presidency will also head a new body called the National Intelligence Coordination Board (MIKK).

The move appears to be part of measures taken to implement changes approved in the April referendum on expanding Erdogan’s powers to create an executive presidency.

Most of the measures are due to come into effect after the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The latest decree also created 32,014 roles in the national security directorate, including 22,000 police officers, as well as 4,000 judges and prosecutors.