Retired Rear Admiral Türker Ertürk has been detained for 20 days. He will appear before the judge tomorrow. Why is he detained? Because of a political assessment he made 3.5 years ago!
The date is March 20, 2023. Türkiye is going to elections on May 14. Election security and the Supreme Electoral Board (YSK) are being discussed. Ertürk says in the Tele1 broadcast: "Look, the government will change now. But the government will change, painfully or without pain. That's why everyone should come to their senses."
Then he includes himself in this warning by saying "you too, me too, of course everyone" and says that he expects the members of the YSK to decide "according to their conscience and the law".
Now, these words are being charged with the crime of "threatening to create fear and panic among the public".
WHY AFTER 3.5 YEARS?
There is a very important detail here. Ertürk's words were not discovered three and a half years later!
A Haber made news on March 20, 2023 at 17.50 with the following headline: "Retired CHP Admiral Türker Ertürk threatened again: But this government will change, painfully or painlessly."
Takvim used the following headline at 17.07 on the same day: "Scandalous threat from CHP retired Admiral Türker Ertürk! 'But with pain or without pain, this government will change.'"
In other words, Ertürk's words were not secret, they did not go unnoticed, they did not just come to light. On the contrary, the ruling media made the headlines that day as a "threat" for the words. So let's ask: Why 3.5 years later?
WHO HAS BEEN AFRAID FOR 3.5 YEARS?
If the accusation is "a threat to create fear and panic among the public", there are simple questions that need to be answered: Who has been afraid for 3.5 years? Who panicked? What social event occurred because of these words?
As a matter of fact, Ertürk also pointed out the same contradiction in his judicial interrogation: "No one has gone out on the streets for 3.5 years."
Moreover, when we look at the entire words, it is clear that there is a political evaluation. Ertürk predicts that the government will change; discusses election security; He calls on the YSK to act in accordance with the law and argues that otherwise the country will face problems.
You may agree or you may not. You find his prediction right or wrong. But political prediction is one thing, threat is another.
'REACTION IN THE FORM OF APPROVAL'
There is an even more interesting evaluation in the indictment. The host of the program said, "Of course they know the price, right sir?" he says. Ertürk's "reaction in the form of approval" to this is also considered among the elements of the accusation.
Inferring crime from words has been surpassed, crime is now being inferred from “reaction”!
Here's the real problem. Because in Turkey, arrest is increasingly being transformed from a measure into a tool of punishment. Arrest first, then judge...
WHY NOW?
Let's get to the real question.
The ruling media saw the words spoken on March 20, 2023, on the same day, and even included them in the news as a "threat". 3.5 years have passed. Then those images were put into circulation again, the prosecutor's office launched an investigation and Ertürk was arrested. So why now?
Türker Ertürk is one of the names that most openly opposes the new initiative initiated by the government. So, there is another question that needs to be asked: Or is this arrest an intimidation to those who oppose the new initiative initiated by the government?
Because the fact that the words that everyone knew 3.5 years ago and which were reported as "threats" by the ruling media that day are taken off the shelf today inevitably calls into question the timing of the arrest from a political perspective.
THE ISSUE IS NOT ERTURK
You may or may not agree with Türker Ertürk's views. This is not the point. The issue is the criminalization of political evaluation. The point is that the words said years ago can be taken off the shelf and turned into an investigation file when necessary. And the issue is whether boundaries are drawn by the judiciary for those who oppose the policies of the government.
Tomorrow, only Türker Ertürk will not be tried in Bakırköy. The right to political criticism will also be put on trial.
And the question before the court is different from the question before the public: The question the court must answer is how Ertürk's words 3.5 years ago constituted "a threat to create fear and panic among the public". The question that the public should seek an answer to is: Why three and a half years later and why right now?
SAVING THE LAW
Dear Cumhuriyet readers, I did not write the above article, except for the title. The artificial intelligence wrote that I asked him to examine the Türker Ertürk file and asked questions based on that examination. Artificial intelligence also reminded how Ertürk's words were reported in the pro-government media 3.5 years ago.
