You know, both the Turkish agenda and the international agenda are really incredibly intense. The war with Iran on one side, Lebanon on the other side, the current situation in Ukraine on the other side... and with all these developments, while the war is knocking on our door, while Israel is insisting on the desire for a land and all these dangers have come to our door, while we are locked on the news and on the screens waiting for what the result will be, what happened all of a sudden?
We were shocked by the news coming from the corridors of Ankara. The news channels announced in their subtitles that he had been sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison. The verdict was issued by Mersin 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance. As if that wasn't enough, Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu's speeches at Mersin and Edirne rallies and some group meetings in 2014 and 2016 were combined and this case was filed. The verdict of the case was attributed to the fact that he used the word “dictator” in one of his speeches, and this issue seemed to be the main topic for the court. Of course, it is impossible not to be amazed when you look at it, while tens of thousands of case files are waiting in line, this case was concluded by connecting with others at 5G speed, so to speak.
Well, the previous sentences were converted into fines. In that sense, of course, there was no problem, but this time it is different... Why? Because the real question is not the duration of the prison sentence, but the danger of Article 53 of the Turkish Penal Code, namely the “political ban”. As you know, Article 53 is a political ban provision. In other words, the court not only sentenced him to imprisonment, but also said that he would lose his right to vote and be elected. If the higher court (appeals court) upholds this decision, Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu will no longer be able to enter politics. But why have these lawsuits been stalled and now they have suddenly popped up?
Why this timing when there is more talk of early elections and the “absolute nullity” case is nearing its end? I mean, why now and not later or not before? such a political ban case is my personal opinion, but Mr. Erdoğan is very experienced in political bans and he is a politician who has been victimized in this regard. He should never allow such a thing and my opinion is clear that he will never allow such a thing because the whole public knows that he is against party closures and political bans. He said that what comes with the ballot box must go with the ballot box.
And what is Kılıçdaroğl's attitude while all this is happening?
“I will continue to express my opinion no matter what,” he had said in the past and he continues to do so today. He has never changed his position and still stands at the same point. He is doing the right thing. What should he have done? Isn't that what society expects from him anyway?.
There are many things to say about this, but let's look at the other side of the coin... Another thing that attracted my attention is a sentence that our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in an interview.
He used a sentence like “we were competing with him on the political ground, that period was different” for Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu. This is actually Erdoğan's nostalgia for that period. As I said, Mr. Erdoğan is a leader who was himself a victim of political bans, who came from the days when headlines said “he couldn't even be muhtar”.
At every opportunity, he has said that “the role of politics should be played through the ballot box, not at the court gates”. Just a few months ago, he even reminisced about how he and Kılıçdaroğlu competed in the political arena, so to what extent does today's judicial decision to imprison and ban Kılıçdaroğlu coincide with the president's own political legacy and his stance against bans?
This contradiction is something that the government should probably think about and be fair about.
You know, history has shown that “Justice” will be needed by everyone one day.