News Scan

News Scan – March 23rd: Does Turkey emerge as party state due to unusual legal practice?

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Abandoning rule of law, Turkey emerges as party state

Turkey, a country that has been suffering one of its worst political and social tremors ever, has abandoned rule of law and emerged as a party state. With ever-growing authoritarian practices affecting all areas, especially the media, the Internet, businesses, police departments, the judiciary and education, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has increasingly come to equate itself with the state.

Thus, student dormitories are raided on orders from the heads of the AKP’s provincial organizations; education inspectors direct ideological questions to students; ministers order police to break down doors and arrest journalists; dissident businessmen are blackmailed; bureaucrats say that whatever bill they need can be passed.

Samim Akgönül, a political scientist and lecturer at the Turkish Studies Department of Strasbourg University’s International Relations Institute, stresses that a political entity that dominates the state mechanism for a long time not only equates itself with the state but also makes the state like itself.

TODAYS ZAMAN

Who blocked Twitter in Turkey?

Twitter, the social media platform with 12 million Turkish users, has been blocked by the Communication Technologies Institution (BTK), working under the Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communication. A court issued the ruling to block access to Twitter in response to a complaint filed by former Transport Minister Binalı Yıldırım and his son.

“The aforementioned website, based abroad, ignored the rulings of the Turkish Republic’s courts. To prevent our citizens from receiving irreparable damage, there was no option left but to block access to Twitter in accordance with the court rulings,” the statement said. Access will be unblocked if Twitter removes “the illegal content,” the BTK warned.

The most striking court verdict used as the base of the BTK’s Twitter ban comes from the Anatolia Fifth Criminal Court of Peace. The court issued the ruling, numbered 2014/181, in response to a complaint filed by former Transport Minister Binalı Yıldırım and his son (document obtained by daily Hürriyet). Yıldırım, who is also the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) current mayoral candidate in İzmir, had requested that the court block access to a Twitter account, @oyyokhırsıza (no votes for thievery), and a related blog, claiming “defamation.” @oyyokhırsıza was using strong language to refer to the allegations against Yıldırım and his son.

Another two of the court rulings listed as the source of the blocking on the BTK’s website are related to the individual complaints of two citizens.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Shoe thrown at opposition leader Kılıçdaroğlu

Turkey’s main opposition CHP’s leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was thrown a shoe at during his speech at a party election rally in the city of Gaziantep. The shoe thrower was detained…

An individual threw a sport trainer at Turkey’s main opposition CHP’s leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu while he was addressing a crowd at a party election rally in the city of Gaziantep on Friday. The CHP leader was hit by the shoe, but continued his speech despite the attack.

The individual was detained, and taken to Şehitkamil District Security Directorate after his shoe attack. He is expected to be forwarded to the court from there following his police questioning.

Erdoğan slams opposition, Gülen movement

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once again slammed the political opposition, as well as the Gülen movement, during two election rallies on March 22.

In his first rally of the day, Erdoğan spoke in the southern province of Hatay, which borders Syria. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones, were included in the “extraordinary security measures” taken in Hatay, and hovered in the skies above throughout Erdoğan’s speech, daily Hürriyet reported. Erdoğan criticized his ally-turned-nemesis Fethullah Gülen, the leader of the Gülen movement, responding to the U.S.-based Islamic scholar’s alleged recent accusation that “the tall man [Erdoğan] betrayed [the country].”

“If you’re honest and sincere, why did you flee the country in 1999 for Pennsylvania when you were innocent? There is a water leakage,” Erdoğan said, using a Turkish idiom to suggest that Gülen was not innocent. Erdoğan claimed “the parallel structure” within the state also wiretapped President Abdullah Gül, but was not releasing the tapes yet. “They’re busy [fighting] the prime minister. Why should they also be busy with the president now? But they wiretapped him, too. When it is time, they will release those tapes. These people are assassins, montage-makers, a gang, an organization that amounts to a terrorist group,” he said.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

President Gül says Twitter block not feasible

As Turkish authorities intensified clampdown on social media by tightening block on Twitter, President Abdullah Gül said full ban on Twitter is impossible in both legal and technical terms, pointing to sudden rise in interest in Turkey toward the popular social media network in the past few days.

With number of Twitter users doubled in past three days after authorities introduced a ban on Twitter, citing court rulings to protect people’s privacy Gül, who publicly expressed his disagreement with the government’s move to ban Twitter via his tweets posted on Twitter on Friday, reiterated his position on Sunday before an official visit to the Netherlands.

TODAYS ZAMAN

Chinese truck maker considers investing in Turkey

Dünya – Heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer Sinotruk is looking into investing in Turkey. Invited by the Ministry of Economy, Sinotruk company officials are on a visit to Turkey to assess the country’s investment opportunities in the automotive sector and hold talks with local industry associations.

Manufacturing trucks, military vehicles, and buses in China under a MAN license, Sinotruk is interested in cooperating with Turkish commercial vehicle makers. “Turkey is an emerging country and among our priority targets. We are looking for partners to develop a business”, Liu Qing, Vice General Manager said following meetings with industry bodies in Bursa, the center of Turkey’s automotive cluster.

The fifth largest auto manufacturer and the top maker of light commercial vehicles in Europe, Turkey’s auto industry rolled out 1.13 million motor vehicles in 2013 under well-known brands including Toyota, Ford, Renault, Fiat, Honda, and Hyundai. The sector shipped USD 21.5 billion worth of motor vehicles and parts to foreign markets in 2013, increasing its exports by 12 percent from the preceding year.

MEDIA

Turkey only EU ally to raise exports to bloc

Turkey is the only country that increased exports to the European Union (EU) last year among the bloc’s largest trading partners, according to the EU’s statistical authority.

Turkish exports to the EU rose 4 percent, reaching EUR 50.2 billion, according to a report released on Eurostat’s website.Turkey remained the EU’s sixth-biggest trading partner in 2013 with a total trade volume of EUR 128 billion.

Among the EU’s 10 biggest trading partners, the exports of China, Russia and the United States shrank by 4, 4 and 5 percent respectively. Other EU trading partners such as Switzerland, Norway, Japan, India, South Korea and Brazil recorded considerable falls in exports to the EU in 2013.

Bordering the EU with a Customs Union Agreement with the bloc in effect, Turkey is increasingly seen as an export hub by global companies seeking to market their goods to the region. Turkey’s exports in the last decade soared to USD 151.9 billion in 2013 from USD 47.2 billion in 2003, the EU being the major export market.

INVEST.GOV.TR

23.03.2014

This is a news-scan from major Turkish papers and internet sites. However, we do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.

 

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