March 21, 2015

The letter that united America

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The letter 74 American senators wrote to John Kerry is a critical turning point for both the USA and Turkey.

74 members of the Senate, which has a total of 100 members, signed a document which contains strong language against the violations committed against democracy, human rights and especially the freedom of the press in Turkey.

They demanded the American administration to “voice their concerns forcefully” in contacts with the Turkish government.

They condemned the December 14 operation against the media, during which Hidayet Karaca was arrested.

In other words, the despotic scandals in Turkey are still evoking shameful repercussions across the world.

74 senators are equivalent to a dominant political attitude on the part of the USA.

As the legislative organ of the USA, the Congress consists of two houses:

The House of Representatives, which has 435 seats and the Senate, which has 100 seats.

Unlike the House of Representatives, the 50 states send each two members to the Senate.

That is, each state is represented equally in the Senate.

Considered as the “upper house” of the American government, Senate meetings are taken to be more important than the gatherings of the House of Representatives.

Although extensive legislative powers are shared with The House, the Senate has some exclusive authority:

For instance, people appointed by the President to the Supreme Court and some key positions in the executive branch can only start office with the Senate’s approval.

Authorization by the Senate is not a symbolic process.

Up to the present, 11 President-appointed Supreme Court judges have been rejected by the upper house.

International treaties negotiated by the President also need sanction from the Senate.

And the Senate sometimes uses its power to reject.

The Versailles Peace Treaty that President Wilson signed at the end of the Great War is an example of senatorial refusal.

Besides, the Congress may start an impeachment upon the report of an investigation committee set up by the House of Representatives.

The jury in such proceedings against the President is the Senate.

The senate examines the allegation and decides by two-thirds (67) of the total vote whether the President is guilty or not.

If found guilty, the President has to retire from office and shall never be installed in a governmental office, paid or honorary.

In the USA, the above proceedings were set in motion 12 times since 1787.

In 1868 Andrew Johnson was impeached, but since the two-thirds majority (also known as supermajority) couldn’t be obtained in the Senate, he was not dismissed from office.

As for Richard Nixon’s case in 1974, the investigation attempt was halted at the stage of preliminary inquiries because Nixon himself decided to resign.

That is to say, the fate of the US President is at the hands of a senatorial supermajority.

And now, a letter is sent to John Kerry, bearing the signatures of 74 senators, among which are 33 Republicans, 39 Democrats and 2 independent senators.

This amounts to a solid understanding in the USA against the AKP's despotism.

With regard to the December 14 operation where Hidayet Karaca was arrested, the Senators are saying, “This case reflects a broader pattern of abuse.”

This is an indication that the entire democratic world has a very clear understanding of Erdoğan’s schemes.

The Senate urges Kerry to take harsher measures.

This picture indicates that Turkish-American relations have reached a serious breaking point.

We need to think about a “Middle Eastern Turkey” that risks turning against the US.

The European Parliament issued the very same warnings.

Turkey’s “foolish loneliness” deepens as scandals and despotic acts run wild.

They unfairly and illegally arrested Hidayet Karaca, although he was not engaged in any offense whatsoever, risking a worldwide disgrace.

I just wish their refrainsabout the “parallel structure” would wither away.

They made the world memorize the name of Hidayet Karaca.

Each time his name is mentioned people are reminded of and condemn the AKP's despotism.

Hidayet Karaca is now the name for the AKP’s diplomatic knockout.

Each day he is kept in prison, the AKP and the country it is greedily pillaging is sliding to become a “plague-stricken country."

The entire nation and the masses who insist on approving the AKP's despotism should be ready for Turkey to pay a heavy political and economic price.

And they have no right to complain.

Because they have asked for it.

Published on BGNNews, 21 March 2015, Saturday

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