People around him have been talking for some time about the Supreme Election Board (YSK), a judicial body. A few days ago, AK Party Deputy Chairman Mustafa Şentop, a constitutional law professor, mentioned the elections and alleged that some judges were talking about canceling them. It would not be wise to dismiss these remarks out of hand. Is Erdoğan planning to confront the YSK? I can find no solid evidence for this, yet as an economist friend of mine reminded us on Twitter today, even if the corruption allegations are true, Erdoğan would still do everything to stay in power. My friend said that it is agonizing to admit, but for the first time, he feels that international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other similar institutions must be invited to observe the elections. It is almost beyond doubt that some Islamic law professors have created a parallel legal system in Turkey by legitimating immoral and corrupt practices through the abuse and manipulation of Islamic law. These very same professors could probably give Erdoğan a fatwa approving the manipulation of the elections. I know that these are serious accusations and recognize that there is not a single shred of evidence that Erdoğan has any such intentions, but nevertheless, Turkey should not be blind to the fact that he has deliberately transformed the forthcoming local elections into a sort of referendum to secure popular approval of all his actions. If Erdoğan receives more than 40 percent of the vote, believe me, he will try to be even more authoritarian.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 11:44:22 +0000
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