Atalay: Democratization of Turkey irreversible

Atalay, the coordinator of the government's democratization initiative, speaking at a press conference held on Friday to inform the public about the timing of future steps for the initiative, also talked about recent discussions on whether Turkey is turning toward “civilian fascism” or a single party system.

“This is a tragicomedy. Those who are reading the realities of society from a reverse perspective claim that Turkey is heading toward a single-party dictatorship. It makes a person not want to take them seriously because we are furthering the standards of democracy. These allegations are cheap, manipulative projects and inconsistent with themselves,” Atalay pointed out.

He added that since the establishment of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), it has aimed to broaden Turkey's horizons and elevate the standards of democracy for everyone.

“Turkey is becoming normalized; the water has started to flow in its own course. We are establishing independent mechanisms that are protecting individuals from the administration, all of them are aiming to deepen democracy.

They are talking about a police state, but we are about to establish mechanisms that will monitor and control the security forces and monitor allegations of human rights violations,” Atalay pointed out.

“We are aiming to leave nothing in the dark and behind closed doors,” he said.

The independent mechanisms that Atalay mentioned are part of a democratization process which that aims for “more freedom and more rights for everyone regardless of their belief, political view, gender and ethnic origin,” as he put it.

The government previously declared that as part of its democratization initiative it is aiming to establish four new independent institutions, including a change in the structure of the Prime Ministry Human Rights Directorate. It will establish another mechanism to fight against discrimination, will approve the UN Optional Protocols to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) -- and as a requirement to open prisons to international monitoring -- and will introduce another system to monitor the security forces. In previous press conferences, Atalay had informed the public about the establishment of these mechanisms, but he added some details and announced the proposed deadlines for these mechanisms at the press conference on Friday.

He said there are three common points in these systems: they will be institutionalized, they will be independent and they will work without receiving orders from any state organ to protect rights and freedoms. He added that for these mechanisms to function properly, it is very important that they are designed with the participation of civil society and said while they were preparing the bills on these institutions, they asked the opinion of civil society organizations on the issue.

He added that the Prime Ministry Human Rights Directorate had been subject to criticism since it did not adhere to international standards and was not considered independent enough, noting, however, that these problems will now be solved.

“It will examine all allegations of human rights violations. One of its duties will be to increase the public awareness of its rights which will not only be important for society in a practical sense, but it will also be helpful in reducing applications to the European Court of Human Rights,” Atalay said.

He recalled that according to the Constitution, all kinds of discrimination are prohibited and a new mechanism will be established to monitor this. This new institution will have the power of sanction, and its decisions will be binding on all organs of the state. It will have the right to issue fines. Their reports will be accepted as expert reports, and it will also work for the prevention of discrimination. It will be possible to apply to this institution by using a variety of channels, including e-mail.

“We are envisaging a very effective institution,” he said. Atalay said that since they had come to power, they had been implementing a policy of zero tolerance for torture and now they are establishing a new institution that will investigate human rights violations by security forces effectively.

According to Atalay, the members of this institution will be appointed from the public sector, universities and human rights councils, and citizens will be able to apply directly to the institution.

“Such a system will not only protect citizens’ rights but will also protect the security forces against false allegations,” Atalay said.

He also added that after the approval of the OPCAT, the necessary mechanisms to monitor detention centers and prisons will be established.

“All these mechanisms are to give more rights and freedoms to everyone and they are part of the democratization process. All of them are fine-tuned to protect the individual and in essence form part of normalization efforts and are the raison d’être of our party,” he underlined. He added that all these mechanisms are related to each other and they are considering them as a package.

“The OPCAT has been approved by the Cabinet and will very soon be sent to Parliament; the Turkish Human Rights Institution bill was also approved by the ministries and next week will be sent to Parliament; the bill for the monitoring mechanisms of the security forces has been designed by our ministry and sent to the related organizations for their views. We will also open up the draft on the anti-discrimination institution to the debate of civil society very soon,” he said.

Atalay added that a bill requiring the trial of children who are in conflict with the Anti-terror Law in children’s courts is in Parliament, but he did not give any details on when it will be discussed by the General Assembly. According to existing Anti-terror Law and the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), children in conflict with these laws face trials as adults. The bill is also known as the “children throwing stones” law.

When asked if there are any preparations for reinstating the names of geographical places to their original Kurdish, he said that if any village or town wants to change its name it can apply to the district governor, and after a referendum or referendum-like research, it will be possible to change the name of a village or town if the majority of the inhabitants want it. “But when it comes to cities and districts, a law is required,” Atalay said.

When talking about administrative implementations within the framework of the democratization initiative, he recalled that the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) had started Kurdish broadcasts, passage at checkpoints in southeastern Anatolia had eased, languages other than Turkish can be spoken in prisons and a Living Languages in Turkey Institution had been established in Mardin University.

When he was asked about constitutional changes, he said that everybody agrees that Turkey needs a new constitution, but this is up to the political parties and Parliament.

“For the time being, there is no serious consensus on the issue, but in order to broaden democracy and freedom, it is necessary to work on a new constitution. I believe that changing the Constitution will be the main subject of the agenda in politics. If there are no developments until the next elections, the coming elections will be about a new constitution,” Atalay said. He repeated the two aims of the democratization process, which are freedom for everyone and the elimination of terror. He added that at the national and also international level they are doing everything possible to eliminate terror.