Pinar Tremblay,
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has kept his vague election promise to end emergency law after two years, allowing it to expire July 18. Its replacement, however, appears to be as bad or worse.
The end of emergency law doesn’t mean the end of restrictions on individual freedoms. Indeed, opposition figures said on social media that it’s as if emergency law is now being extended for three more years. The reason for these concerns is a proposed bill, known as the “anti-terror package,” currently under review by parliament.
The anti-terror package, written by the newly minted ministers, arrived at parliament July 18. By July 20, it had cleared committee and is now being debated before parliament with a high probability to be passed as is.
This bill will make Erdogan’s dream of swift legislation and execution possible, ending any sort of deliberation and oversight. Mehmet Ucum, one of Erdogan’s senior advisers, summed it up handily: “The [new] system doesn’t allow quarrels. If there are disagreements about personal choices, the system permits those to be discarded as well, because there is only one decision-maker. Dissenters will be replaced in one night and in their place there will be people appointed who will do the job right.”
The proposed bill summarizes how this will be done. The four most crucial categories are outlined below.
Fear of the military: Even before the July 2016 botched coup, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had gone through a series of reforms and arrests. According to government sources, 15,000 TSK personnel were dismissed during the past two years. In a surprising move earlier this month, Erdogan appointed Gen. Hulusi Akar as defense minister. At the time, Akar was the active-duty chief of general staff.
Although pro-government figures report this as a sign of comfortable relations with the TSK, the proposed anti-terror bill has several articles showing strong distrust. A retired military judge told Al-Monitor, “Reading the proposal, I was ashamed. This is disgraceful for any member of the TSK, whether a general or a conscript. The army, which used to be the most trusted institution in this country since its establishment, is now under constant surveillance.”
The judge’s comments are based on the ambiguous wording of the articles, which suggest the government can investigate members of the armed forces, and even search and seize their private property, including their cars and homes. If a soldier is being expelled, there will no longer be a need to wait for a court order to strip off his or her stars and stripes; that can be done immediately.
Protests: The first article grants extensive responsibilities to state-appointed governors. According to the bill, governors will have the right to keep individuals or groups they deem dangerous from entering their cities, or certain sections of the cities, for as long as 15 days. How this law can be effectively enforced is unknown, especially since there are no current checkpoints at city entrances. Also, governors are granted the right to forbid people from gathering at certain places and during certain times. This article also allows governors to ban transportation of any ammunition or guns, even if they are licensed.
The rest of the bill also has several items that restrict freedom of expression, the press and assembly. For example, all group events in public spaces need to end before sunset. Indoor gatherings must end by midnight. The most interesting part bans all protests that “would make the lives of residents unbearably difficult.” This vague statement could easily be used to justify any number of situations in major cities.
is a columnist visiting scholar of political science at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona