Tekin, who was a guest of the Anadoluda Sabah (Morning in Anatolia) program, shared his evaluations and opinions on a wide range of issues from the approaching CHP congress to the adoption of a new bylaw for the party, how long the current president should serve in office, the human remains being unearthed in excavations in the southeast, to the CHP deputies who challenged a law that would give equal advantage to the alumni of religious schools as exist for graduates of regular schools in the university admission examination.
One of his most exciting bits of news was the revelation that he is currently working on a book exposing the corruption and tricks played in politics. Speaking about the recent excavations where many skulls -- belonging to people who were killed by an illegal group inside the gendarmerie force known as JİTEM -- Tekin said, “If JİTEM has been established, it was created by politics. Of course, JİTEM existed, but who is behind it? Thousands were killed in unsolved murders and massacres. These were the doing of highly organized units. These were not things that just came about on their own. These were established by politicians. Governments change, eras change, but some politicians held important positions in all periods, including coup times. How can this happen? If we don’t clean up politics, we can’t possibly move Turkey forward. I am writing a book about corruption in politics focusing on the past five years. It will have serious repercussions.”
He said his new book will come out within a year and a half. Tekin also spoke about the planned CHP congress, denying rumors that a CHP parliamentary group deputy chairwoman will be a candidate for the party’s CHP leadership. Tekin said the CHP was not undergoing a leadership crisis.
He also offered his opinion on the recent controversy about how long President Abdullah Gül should serve in office -- an ambiguity caused by an amendment that reduced the presidential term of office after Gül’s election. The government announced that Gül will serve in accordance with the law that was in place when he was elected, but Tekin said the CHP might challenge this in the Constitutional Court.
On JİTEM murders and other murders committed by illegal gangs backed by the state and politicians, Tekin said Parliament should establish a new investigation commission.
Lastly, with regard to a petition filed by some CHP deputies with the Constitutional Court against a legal amendment giving an equal chance to all high school graduates in the university examination -- including graduates of religious schools who were previously slightly disadvantaged due to how their overall scores were calculated -- Tekin said: “This was an individual initiative. I really don’t even know which of our deputies filed that petition. I don’t even know if they talked to our chairman. We as the CHP believe that everyone has the absolute right to an education.”
