On Feb.18, Turkish President Abdullah Gul signed the controversial Internet legislation in full compliance with his record of total alignment with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), of which he is a founding member. This is yet another good example of how the country is left without a working checks-and-balances system. It is a disservice to democracy, to say the least, when members of the same party control the presidency and the parliament.
While many Turkish analysts had seen a good cop-bad cop scenario in their analysis of the newly chilled relationship between Gul and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, particularly over their differences in approaching the Syrian crisis, it is no surprise that Gul and Erdogan are both on the same boat when it comes to prioritizing their own political futures, rather than putting the nation first and respecting freedoms and democracy.
The Freedom House warned on Feb.11, “If President Abdullah Gul signs the restrictive Internet bill adopted by the parliament last week, he will take the country into uncharted territory.” The report made clear that as much as Turkey’s democracy may not be perfect, this new legislation would even further problematize it. “In September 2014, Istanbul will host the ninth annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, for which human rights, freedom of expression and the free flow of information on the Internet are key concerns. As host, Turkey must set an example of basic compliance with these norms. It will be patently unable to do so if President Gul signs the Internet legislation currently before him.”
After signing the bill as is, Gul said the government promised to make changes to the problematic aspects of this legislation. “To give the opportunity for these amendments to be made rapidly, I approved the law in front of me as soon as I returned from Hungary,” Gul wrote Feb. 18 on his Twitter account. Since then, more than 100,000 people have unfollowed him on Twitter. And today’s trending Twitter hashtag in Turkey is #GULSeniBendeBiraktim, meaning Gul I Also Left You Behind.
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