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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.
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the parliament in Ankara January 14, 2014. Erdogan looks to have the upper hand in a civil war rocking Turkey's political establishment, but his bid to break the influence of a potent Islamic cleric could roll back reforms and undermine hard-won business confidence. What erupted a month ago as a damaging inquiry into alleged government corruption has spiralled into a battle over the judi
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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."

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