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FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK f.zibak@todayszaman.com Columnists

A direct intervention in the judiciary


Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, in his latest interviews with the Milliyet and Hürriyet dailies earlier this week, made statements in defense of some members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) who stand accused of engaging in terrorism.

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When asked about the allegations concerning 3rd Army Commander Gen. Saldıray Berk, who is facing charges of involvement in terrorist activities in an ongoing investigation in Erzincan, Başbuğ expressed his strong disbelief in the justness of the investigation. “In our meetings with our army commander, he was asked his views regarding the allegations about himself. He told us many times that he has nothing to do with the charges directed against him.” This prompted severe criticism of Gen. Başbuğ for intervening in the judiciary in a way that is unacceptable in a nation where all citizens are equal before law.

Acknowledging that the presumption of innocence is an important principle of law and that everyone should respect this principle, Radikal’s İsmet Barkan says while keeping this principle in mind, one should not fall short of respecting another important legal principle and make comments on an ongoing case like a lawyer or prosecutor. He says even if Gen. Başbuğ thinks the suspect or suspects in an ongoing judicial case were treated unjustly, he should not have disclosed his views. “The same principle is binding undoubtedly for the prime minister, members of the government, the opposition, the press and everyone, but just because others are violating this principle, nobody should feel they themselves also have the right to violate it,” explains Berkan.

Bugün’s Ahmet Taşgetiren is also rather disturbed by Başbuğ standing up for Gen. Berk even though the case is still in progress. “There is an indictment in question that was prepared by the prosecutor’s office and accepted by the court, and Gen. Berk is among the leading suspects. You, as the chief of General Staff, can say, ‘We looked at the indictment, there is no offense in question, we are behind Berk.’ There is no need to hold a trial after your statements. You tried him and released him. You saw yourself as having the authority to do so,” Taşgetiren tells Başbuğ.

Drawing attention to the irony, he says he is sure Başbuğ will continue to make statements that the judiciary is independent and that no one can interfere in a judicial process, despite making a direct intervention in the judiciary.

“It is possible to understand criticism of suspects being held in detention or in jail for a long time before a trial. But talking about a suspect and saying, ‘He did not commit an offense in our view, we are behind him,’ is nothing but an intervention in the judiciary,” contends Taşgetiren.

On Başbuğ’s support for Berk, Radikal’s Oral Çalışlar also interprets this move as a direct intervention in the judiciary and an attempt to challenge it. He explains that Başbuğ and his fellows in the TSK have to understand that they are equal like other citizens before the law. In his view, Turkey can become a state adhering to the rule of law only when an environment is formed in which they are made to understand this reality. “Unless this happens, ‘the supremacy of law’ and ‘independence of the judiciary’ will be nothing more than empty clichés,” suggests Çalışlar.

18 March 2010, Thursday
FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK
   
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Other Articles of the Columnist

  A direct intervention in the judiciary
  Başbuğ’s need to talk
  Rethinking the ‘genocide’ resolutions
  A truck filled with suspicion
  An amnesty seems inevitable
  A changeable politician
  Turkey’s unchangeable reality: earthquakes
  Reflections on women and their day
  Balances change after committee approval of resolution
  Armenian resolution and Turkey’s trauma
  Referendum’s possible consequences
  Sea change in the General Staff’s attitude
  Turns out the plot is more than ‘a piece of paper’
  Taking lessons from Feb. 28
  The meaning of the trilateral meeting in Çankaya
  How to read Turkey’s transformation process
  Turning back is unlikely
  Turkey on the right track
  Voice recording prompts calls for Başbuğ’s dismissal
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Columnists
ABDULHAMİT BİLİCİ
ABDULLAH BOZKURT
ALİ BULAÇ
ALİ H. ASLAN
AMANDA PAUL
ANDREW FINKEL
ASIM ERDİLEK
AYŞE KARABAT
BEJAN MATUR
BERİL DEDEOĞLU
BERK ÇEKTİR
BÜLENT KENEŞ
BÜLENT KORUCU
CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON
DOĞU ERGİL
EKREM DUMANLI
EMRE USLU
ETYEN MAHÇUPYAN
FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK
FİKRET ERTAN
GÜRKAN ZENGİN
HASAN KANBOLAT
HÜSEYİN GÜLERCE
İBRAHİM KALIN
İBRAHİM ÖZTÜRK
İHSAN DAĞI
İHSAN YILMAZ
KATHY HAMILTON
KERİM BALCI
KLAUS JURGENS
LALE KEMAL
MEHMET KAMIŞ
MICHAEL KUSER
MUHAMMED ÇETİN
MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE
NICOLE POPE
ÖMER TAŞPINAR
ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ
PAT YALE
ŞAHİN ALPAY
SELÇUK GÜLTAŞLI
SUAT KINIKLIOĞLU
YAVUZ BAYDAR