Pure Turkish Politics

In one of his latest press statement, state minister Nurettin Canikli has emphasized that investigations towards the state officials who are linked with Gulenists should not be considered as "witch hunt". He repeatedly mentioned that they carry on lawful and fair investigation process to identify who are affiliated with the Gulenist Network and if innocence of civil servants are proved, then they will reinstate them to their jobs. The term "witch hunt" explains a long horrible tradition that punishing people who believed to be demon. The person accused as witch put into a fire and if he or she stay alive then it is found not guilty for his or her actions. Basic logic in witch hunt is demanding suspect to prove its innocence by itself and doing it generally under impossible conditions. In modern criminal justice system, proceedings for suspects pursued on the contrary. According to presumption of innocence principle, one is considered innocent until its guilt p...

Being a politician has always been a tough task in Turkey. If you are a politician who is narrow-minded, having pretentious manner on the subjects that you have been advised not to carry on them or who do not understand Turkey's political dynamics, this country's political environment sometimes oblige you to act on the contrary to your beliefs and arguments.  This fault in not only belong to politicians, but also their advisers share responsibility as much as their superiors. If politicians surrounded by advisers who only consider their self-interest and gives priority to keep their position secure or praise politician no matter how much their decision is wrong, again politicians most likely to see similar unfortunate experience.  In recent Turkish political history, there are plenty of examples involving Turkish politicians who are upended with their fundamental arguments. Even though we do not have enough data to reveal what was the exact reason of their contradic...

Institutional capacity is a technical term that is commonly used by political scientists to emphasize ability of state institutions to achieve objectives, adapt required reforms, solve problems or accommodate with new political status quo. Having a strong institutional capacity is very important for politicians to transform states because in the absence of institutional capacity their innovative ideas will not work due to absence of people who can implement these ideas. Analogically, if political elites considered as brain, absence of institutional capacity means having no hands to implement brain orders.  Since 2002 after Justice and Development Party (AKP) has become the government party, institutional capacity has always been a problem for Turkey. The major reason behind this problem was AKP did not prefer a merit based human resources system during these years. Instead, they relied on selection of state officials for their ideology or identity.  During the first ...

Gordion Knot is an ancient proverbial term that is commonly used to describe solving a complex problem by coercive action. According to the ancient story, when Alexander the Great has marched into the Phrygian capital of Gordium he found a chariot belongs to the ancestral father of the city, Gordius. The yoke of the wagon was tied with a knot with its hidden end and who could unravel the knot is thought to be the conqueror of the Asia. After several attempts to untie the knot, Alexander sliced the knot instead of patiently unravelling it and he carried on his military expedition. The story does not tell us how Alexander’s pragmatic approach has influenced the people in Gordium.  However, in the contemporary Turkish politics Turkey is facing with a new Gordion Knot that needs to be untied patiently.  This new Gordion Knot was created by Gulenists since 1970’s by diffusing all Turkish Governmental Institutions using different immoral methods. According to recent trials...