The HSYK election

Nazlı Ilıcak, Bugün

With regards to the upcoming election for the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), there is a series of untrue allegations circulating in the media.

These days, the easiest way for the government to smear people is to brand them a supporter of the [faith-based] Hizmet movement. There is no need to show proof [of the affiliation]. So-called victims of the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer coup plot trials [in the military top brass] also support this smear campaign. They are now acting as if there had been no coup attempts against the government in the past, as if [pro-coup] judges and prosecutors had not plotted to shut down the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), as if the Supreme Court of Appeals' chief prosecutor and the Constitutional Court had not tried to block Abdullah Gül from becoming president because his wife wore a headscarf, as if no military-backed websites had smeared the government. After the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 corruption scandals, the government acted as if these facts were part of a plan by Hizmet while covering up the graft claims. This is why the HSYK election is vital to the government, so it can dominate the judiciary.

Published on Today's Zaman, 25 September 2014, Thursday