PM VOWS TO BRING JUDICIAL REFORM PACKAGE TO PARLIAMENT

Today’s Zaman
Feb 23 2010
Turkey

PM Erdogan addressed his fellow party members at a dinner in Istanbul
for the AK Party’s Rize provincial branch and Istanbul provincial
branch leadership on Sunday.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that his Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) government plans to bring a comprehensive
judicial reform package to Parliament after government officials put
the finishing touches on it.

On Sunday, the prime minister responded to questions from reporters
at Istanbul Ataturk Airport before leaving for an official visit to
Spain. When asked whether his government envisions including changes
to the current judicial system in a constitutional reform package
planned to be introduced by the government, Erdogan said: "A judicial
reform is currently expected by most segments of society, including
political parties and civil society institutions. We don’t want to
leave these expectations unanswered. Our colleagues are working on it.

They plan to bring it to Parliament after completing their review of
the package."

Erdogan also attended a dinner in Istanbul with the AK Party’s Rize
provincial branch and Istanbul provincial branch leadership on Sunday.

Addressing the participants, the prime minister commented on the
recent debate over a decision by the Supreme Board of Judges and
Prosecutors (HSYK) to strip four prosecutors of their authority last
week. Erdogan implicitly criticized the HSYK, saying some institutions
damage the notion of the impartiality of the law by overstepping their
authority. "They are using political discourse. If you like politics,
here is the stage," he said.

The HSYK last Wednesday stripped specially authorized Erzurum
Prosecutor Osman Å~^anal of his authority due to his investigation of
a chief public prosecutor. The board also relieved another specially
authorized prosecutor in Erzurum, Tarık Gur, and public prosecutors
Rasim Karakullukcu and Mehmet Yazıcı of their authority over an
investigation into Erzincan Chief Public Prosecutor Ä°lhan Cihaner,
currently under arrest on charges of membership in a terrorist
organization and falsification of documents. The decision sparked
indignation in various segments of society as it cast doubt on the
impartiality and independence of the judiciary.

The prime minister also lashed out at unidentified parties who accuse
the government of trying to create a "pro-government" judiciary,
saying some are trying to cause conflict between state institutions
by so classifying them.

Stressing the importance of democracy for Turkey, Erdogan said
Turkey has been raising the bar in democracy. "Unfortunately,
those who are jealous of the level Turkey has reached in terms of
democratization, economy and international relations are staging every
kind of scenario. There is no way back from this process. Nobody can
make this country pay a new price. Nobody has the right to take this
country backwards. We have been fighting the problem of [illegal]
gangs, which have spread through the country, and we have never
surrendered," Erdogan said.

Erdogan also touched upon the newfound solidarity between relatives
of victims of unsolved murders in Turkey’s history. Recently, family
members of individuals who were assassinated for political reasons
have voiced their demands that the perpetrators and real masterminds
behind the killings be brought to justice. Relatives of a number of
victims of unsolved, suspicious murders attended the last hearing in
the trial of suspects in the murder of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian
journalist fatally shot by an ultranationalist teenager outside the
Agos weekly in 2007. Stating that there is a heartbreaking problem
of unsolved murders in Turkey, Erdogan noted that relatives of these
victims are establishing a platform to voice their demands. "They say
that they know [their relatives] will not come back, but they want the
real perpetrators to be brought to justice. Turkey should immediately
confront this responsibility. There are some who say, ‘Why are you
dredging up the past?’ Those who are expected to exert efforts to shed
light on such events are trying to block this process. I present this
inconsistency for the judgment of the nation," he added.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress