20 July 2009 / BUGÜN NUH GÖNÜLTAŞ,
Do only members of Parliament have immunity in Turkey? Of course not. According to the 1982 Constitution, which was written after the 1980 military coup, so many people have immunity in Turkey that one would be surprised to learn who those people are.
An important part of the articles in the 1982 Constitution refer to these people or the institutions in these terms: “they are outside judicial supervision,” “they cannot be tried,” “they are authorized but not accountable,” “they have immunity.” The actions of these people and institutions are outside of any kind of supervision. They are like God. They are removed from any questioning and supervision. They never give any account of their actions because there is no superior, greater or nobler institution to which these people can give an account of their actions. They are the source of law themselves. Our Constitution is like a “God state” constitution.
