We all forgot about the claims collected from the newspaper reports. Yet, on the day when he announced the decision to not close the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Constitutional Court President Haşim Kılıç offered a clear piece of advice: "We would like to call one more time on politicians. If there is something unwanted by society, then political parties should come to an agreement among themselves and make the necessary arrangements." Since then, no step has been taken to this end. Shame on these temporary controversies and daily conflicts!I can hear you asking, "Why on earth are you talking about this party closure issue?" It is not what you may think. We can expect hard days for those who brought that closure case against the AK Party. This time, it seems the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) will cause trouble for Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya. Indeed, since the campaigning for the upcoming local elections began, the CHP has taken everyone by surprise with its initiatives focused on religion. We can safely argue that if these steps had been taken by the AK Party (or any other right-wing party), a closure case would certainly be brought against it at the Constitutional Court. I am not suggesting that a closure case should be brought against the CHP. Rather, the closure of political parties by the court should either be completely abolished or restrained to a great extent. If we do not want to be disgraced in the eyes of the world, we must amend the Constitution as soon as possible. However, if the Constitutional Court is to continue its job of closing down parties, this time it should start with the CHP, not the AK Party.
Let us start with the chador initiative. I am not against this initiative. Rather, I give full support to it. Even some senior pro-CHP columnists called me "neo-CHP supporter" because of my fervent support. So be it. We support correct moves and criticize wrong ones. Yet I am not sure how the members of the Constitutional Court feel about this initiative. Everyone knows well how Yalçınkaya views such political initiatives. Indeed, one can find many hints about his reasoning in the indictment against the AK Party.
The CHP not only affixed party badges to women wearing the chador, they also launched a move to open Quran courses in every neighborhood. The mastermind behind this project praised by CHP leader Deniz Baykal is Sefa Sirmen. It is obvious that the nation is warm to this project, but what about the chief prosecutor? As a matter of fact, the mayor of Kocaeli, an AK Party member, had given Qurans to people intending to go on the pilgrimage to Mecca, and the prosecutor put this incident in his indictment. Ironically, now the CHP's mayoral candidate for Kocaeli, Sirmen, has launched a Quran course project, and he has even posed together with a mufti for reporters. Will the nation be happy about this project? Of course, they will. But what about the prosecutors?
As if this were not enough, the CHP launched another radical move and invited people from a Sufi order to the party. Papers wrote that they had contacted senior executives from the Kadiri order and nominated a Kadiri for a mayoral post. In my opinion, this is perfectly acceptable. If the CHP is an established party, it should be able to welcome all groups in society. But what will the chief prosecutor think when he sees the newspaper reports or when he does a search on Google?
It is said that one of the women nominated by the CHP wears the headscarf. I read an interview with her in Zaman and I was satisfied. "I both say my prayers and recite the Quran," she says. Wonderful! The CHP should make one initiative after another to win back the hearts of the groups it has offended in the past. Yet, as they are doing these things, they should not find a closure case waiting for them. I am saying this because the chief prosecutor launched the closure case against the AK Party using files containing such news stories. Some people may still be collecting such reports. The Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV) assigned the AK Party case to its vice president. This is a very suspicious move. When I write about it, they flare up and accuse me of "making him into a target." This is unnecessary. Firstly, this information, which was actually first mentioned by the Anka news agency, can't be overlooked. Second, if they are so sensitive, then they should be making such appointments.
What I mean to say is that party closures should be brought to an end. This practice has no explanation. The fact that the judiciary makes no move with respect to the CHP, but acts just like a political party when it comes to the AK Party is damaging the credibility of the Turkish justice system. They should not denigrate this nation. We must recall what Constitutional Court President Kılıç said months ago.
