Banality of evil or institutionalization of decadence by Bulent Kenes

The concept of "banality of evil" came to mind as soon as I heard that the parliamentary Corruption Investigation Commission refused to refer four former ministers to the Supreme State Council (Yüce Divan) despite the fact that a graft and bribery investigation that went public on Dec. 17 and 25, 2013 had brought their corrupt practices to light.

Nine commission members from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) disposed of their morality and consciences by saving the former ministers from litigation -- at least for the time being. However, there is still a possibility that they will face the Yüce Divan due to demands by the opposition for a parliamentary vote, which would take place in January.

AKP’s criminal coalition by Emre Uslu

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power by forming a “democracy coalition.” But it now appears that the ruling party is intent on carrying through its third term riding on the shoulders of a criminal coalition. Back in the days of the democracy coalition, the ruling party directed its supporters towards democracy, pushing them to embrace democracy more tightly. But now that the AKP has turned into a criminal coalition, the party's supporters have suppressed their own feelings of guilt, gathered around the party and thus turning into dirty supporters of the party.

Erdoğan gov't transforms Turkey into land of oppression, bans

Credit: Today's Zaman

An upward trend of democratic achievements and efforts to make Turkey a more civilized and democratic country have been reversed recently -- particularly after the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) grew more authoritarian and intolerant toward criticism starting from the Gezi Park protests of last summer.

Since then, Turkey has turned inward and transformed into an anti-democratic regime.

The blame largely rests on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AK Party government. For many, Turkey is now a country where criticism is not tolerated; social media platforms such as YouTube and Twitter are blocked very easily; people are killed for participating in anti-government street protests; and journalists are fired for speaking against the government.

Report: Religious communities profiled by AK Party government

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government reportedly ordered the profiling of all religious groups in Turkey: the İsmailağa community led by Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu, the Süleymancılar community led by Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan, the Nur movement, the Nakşi movement, and the Kadiri movement, as well as the Hizmet movement, a faith-based civil society initiative intensely disliked by President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

According to a report in the Taraf daily on Sunday, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the National Police Department Intelligence Unit may have jointly been illegally collecting data about religious communities and profiling them on orders from the AK Party. In 2009, former National Police Department Intelligence Bureau Chief Hüseyin Namal, who was assigned to the post to replace Ramazan Akyürek, reportedly sent an official document to the police departments of the 81 provinces demanding that the departments provide detailed intelligence to the government regarding the religious communities in their provinces.

Erdogan names loyal ally Davutoglu as new Turkey PM

 

Credit: AFP Photo/Adem Altan

Turkey's president-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday named Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to succeed him as ruling party leader and prime minister, promoting an ally who is expected to show unstinting loyalty to the new head of state.

Erdogan -- who has dominated Turkey's political scene for 11 years as prime minister -- is to be inaugurated as president next week after his election victory earlier this month.

AK Party's Islamism

By Mumtazer Turkone

It is wrong to link the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to al-Qaeda. Rather, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) of Egypt and Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan served as a role model for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the National View (Milli Görüş) movement from which it had sprung. Yet the AK Party has always distanced itself from radical Islamist movements that resort to violence.

Are ambassadors propaganda officials for the ruling party?

After Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered Turkish ambassadors to explain to foreign diplomats the recent graft and bribery scandal from a conspiracy-oriented and partisan perspective, the Turkish ambassador to Washington will certainly have the hardest time complying with this instruction.