Rule of law casualty of AKP-Gulen conflict
Measures by the AKP government to expunge the Gulen movement’s strength in the judiciary are endangering Turkey’s qualifications as a state of law and order.
The first victims of the AKP versus Gulen movement [Cemaat] warfare that dramatically escalated with the Dec. 17 corruption and bribery operation and culminated with four cabinet ministers losing their seats were the judiciary of the country, law and therefore Turkish democracy.
According to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesmen, the investigations and operations launched against ministers, high-level bureaucrats, businessmen close to the government and the prime minister’s son Bilal Erdogan are nothing but a “coup attempt” of international dimensions against the government. AKP leaders think that the target of this operation is, at the least, “an AKP without Erdogan,” and indicate that a “parallel state” is managing the project. What the AKP spokesmen and their supportive media mean by "parallel state” is the Gulen Cemaat supporters within the security and judiciary institutions. Organized and coordinated actions of these people toward a political objective are described as manifestations of the “parallel state."
But a reminder is warranted here: The Gulen Cemaat, a sociopolitical Islamic movement going back 40 years that has sought to transform society by educating Muslim cadres, was actually a partner of AKP in ruling the country until early 2012. Cemaat members in the thousands penetrated many state institutions from the judiciary to security agencies, and from educational institutions to civil administration offices, with the approval and support of the AKP. Eventually the Cemaat members assumed key positions. Therefore, if there is organized activity by Gulen Cemaat members within the state, it would be best to describe it as a "state within a state” instead of a “parallel state.” But the AKP can’t use the concept of “state within state." Otherwise we would have the right to ask the AKP, “Where were you when the Gulen people were setting up a state within a state? In a deep slumber?” AKP leaders can’t answer this question because in the past they worked as partners with the Gulen Cemaat and they themselves are primarily responsible for today’s grim political outlook.
This is how the situation is best described today:
