SPOT (Solidarity with the People of Turkey) published a press statement last week, reviewing the aftermaths of Turkish democracy. The press release says:
“The policies of the AKP government, which have been ruling the country for the last 14 years, have pushed democracy to the edge. The severity of the situation exceeds even the circumstances of the military coup in 1980.By using the failed coup attempt of July 15th as a pretext, the government is arresting and firing all those that oppose the authoritarian regime in the country. This is a Turkey where people feel the need to hide their opinions and beliefs. Citizens are being accused of and punished for being affiliated with the Gülen movement, allegedly behind the July 15th coup attempt, whom Erdogan and AKP were arm-in-arm with until recently.
More than 200,000 public sector workers have been fired. Approximately 5,000 academics have been removed from their positions. 197,000 people have been arrested, of which 151 are journalists. Not even the indictments have been prepared for 11 writers despite being held for 105 days.
Turkey has the highest number of imprisoned journalists in the world. 112,000 webpages have been banned and approximately 100 TV and radio stations shut down. Zarok TV, a channel broadcasting in Kurdish, and even Hayatın Sesi TV, a channel trying to be the voice of workers, have been shut down claiming propaganda for terrorist organisations. Bank accounts, equipment and property of these media stations have been seized and their assets are now up for sale. Corporations, private schools, private hospitals and small businesses allegedly linked to Gülen community and terrorist organisations have been seized.
12 HDP MPs, the second largest opposition party in the country with 59 MPs in parliament, have been arrested. Its co-leaders Demirtas and Yuksekdag have also been detained with the former facing 142 years of imprisonment. Dozens of Kurdish municipalities had their mayors re-appointed with their elected mayors detained.
A one-man authoritarian system is being called for with a new constitutional reform. If the result of the referendum on the 16th April is a ‘Yes’ vote, the president will be able to enforce any law he wishes. This is a path to a one-man regime with aims to form a dictatorship…
Let us not forget: Turkey is a major buyer of arms for the Theresa May government. In an attempt to prove to Europe that she “can trade with other countries”, May is making deals to sell jet aircrafts to one of the world’s most repressive regimes, effectively condoning the undemocratic pressure and brutal attacks on academics and other groups in
