The Corruption In Turkey Politics Essay

The Corruption In bomb g overnance EssayIn this report you potentiometer read about the subversive activity in dud. The purpose of this report is to show you where putrefaction in misfire is taking place and how the Turkish governance is fighting it. In chapter 2 youll find general information about bomb. The depravity in Tur recognise, em armed forces group Ergenekon, is described in chapter three. In chapter four the corruption in bomb calorimeter is being affaireed with one of the four syndromes described by Michael Johnston. The closing of this report can be found in chapter vanadium. dud, as a successor of the Ottoman Empire, is a re globean parliamentary nation established in 29th October 1923 by Mustafa Kemal. Mustafa Kemal was honoured in 1934 by the Turkish citizens with the entitle of Ataturk, the Father of the Turks. Although Istanbul is the biggest and wealthiest city in joker, Ankara was chosen as the neat city of washout by Ataturk. Furthermore, jo ker has eighty-one provinces. In twenty-eighth August 2007 Abdullah Gul was elective death chair of bomb by the National Assembly. A day later he appointed Recep Tayip Erdogan as the Prime rector of jokester. Just after devil months, 21th October 2007, they successfully set with Turkey the conterminous step towards democracy. In the future(a) the president is going to be elected directly and not by the National Assembly. Going clog in time, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community in 1964. In 2005, with Abdullah Gul and Recep Tayip Erdogan, Turkey began accession social station talks with the European Union. Turkey is a member of the UN since 1945 and in addition a member of the NATO since 1952.12.1 PopulationIn July 2009 the nation of Turkey was estimated 76,8 million. Two-third of the population was estimated amid the age of fifteen and half-dozenty-five. More than xxvii per centum of the population was estimated below the age of fifteen and more than sixsome percent was estimated above the age of sixty-five. In 2008 the urban population of Turkey was estimated nearly seventy percent of the population. The majority of the Turkish population is Turkish, estimated around seventy-five percent in 2008. Eight-teen percent of the population was estimated Kurdish. With a minority figure the Arabs, Turkmen, Circassians and Greeks atomic number 18 in any case present in Turkey.2The EU issued in 2005 that Turkey didnt sufficiently vouch the freedom of expression in canal with the European Convention of Human Rights towards the minorities. agree to article 301 of the Turkish Constitution, an exasperate to Turkish mess is no longer used systematically to fasten freedom of expression. It is that article which the EU found not sufficient enough. The EU ar of the suasion that Turkey must take more measures in line with the European Convention of Human Rights towards the minorities.3 next to that, most of the good deal in Tur key ar Sunni Muslim.2.2 EconomyIn Turkey the show is a major participant in basic industry, banking, transport and communicating vault of heaven. Textile and clothing argon the largest industrial sectors in Turkey. Today 30 percent of the eligible population is employed in the traditional agriculture. At the moment, the most notable progress in the Turkish economy is the ascension of the automotive and electronic industries. That is a sign that the Turkish economy is modernizing. The GPD of Turkey grew between 2002 and 2007 with an average of six percent. Despite the strong economy, the gross domestic product in 2008 grew with zero point social club percent and it was decreased in 2009 with five point nine percent, a thirty-four year record low. story for that is the high account deficit en high external debts. The administration of Turkey expects with further economic and judicial reforms and prospective EU membership to boost their economy with opposed investors. However, the global financial crisis in 2009 didnt strike the Turkish financial markets. In their history, Turkey experienced in 2001 a financial crises. In that year Turkey implemented reforms in the banking sector which protected them from the global financial crisis in 2009. At the moment Turkeys future doesnt look so bright. The economical experts ar expecting a decline in the export sector and because of the menstruation policy-making crisis, al lot of foreign and intern companies are afraid to invest in the Turkish economy. With an estimated GDP worth of 861,6 billion Euros in 2009, Turkey is ranked eighteenth compared to the another(prenominal)(a) countries.4The top three of that same list is, respectively, dominated by the EU, the united States and China.2.3 MilitaryIn October 2005 a National Security constitution register was adopted by the Turkish government. That document increased the single-valued function of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) business organisationing th e internal security of the say. Today the TSK leadership plays a key role in politics and considers itself the guardian of Turkeys secular state. They demonstrated their big businessman sever times after the adoption of the National Security Policy Document. For example, in April 2007 they warned the notion party about any pro-Islamic appointments. They are also responsible for limiting the progress of establishing a civilian supremacy over the military, which scribbleed in October 2005 after the Turkish government started to negotiate with the EU. The EU is of the opinion that the military power of Turkey must first decrease if Turkey insufficiencys to join the EU. The TSK has also been taken an international peacekeeping responsibilities and they took charge of a NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) command in Afghanistan in April 2007. Furthermore, the Turkish military gists adopted an Aerospace and Missile demurrer Concept in 2002 which set new priorities. The priorities included attaining a modern deployable, survivable, and sustainable force structure and establishing a sustainable command and check up on system. The affects of the Aerospace and Missile Defence Concept looked promising in 2008.52.4 CorruptionIn December 2007 Turkey started, with the help of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the corroboration on Ethics for the streak of Corruption in Turkey (TYEC) for a term of two years.6This project is funded by the European Union and by the Council of Europe. It is implemented by the Council of Europes board of directors of Co-operation. The projects principal(prenominal) counterpart institution is the Council of Ethics for in the semipublic eye(predicate) servicing at the Prime Ministry of Turkey. In recent years the Turkish Government has taken a number of all important(predicate) steps in combating corruption. The country ratify the Council of Europes Civil and Criminal Law Conventions against Corruption in 2003 and 2004 respectively and linked the Councils Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in January 2004. Moreover, in June 2004 the Council of Ethics for the Public Service was established and in 2005 the Regulation on the Principles of Ethical Behaviour for Public Officials, the Code of Ethics, was adopted. Despite these steps, corruption remains a serious concern for the tidy sum of Turkey. The Turkish authorities acknowledge that corruption is a precession issue requiring comprehensive and serious counter-measures.7The project depart assist Turkey with their efforts in preventing corruption by supporting the implementation of specific measures, and go out support to other related reforms. The TYEC project has four main aims permit the implementation of the Code of Ethics across the public administration in line with GRECO recommendationsDevelop codes of ethics for other categories of officials or holders of public top executiveDevelop systems of monitoring the effe ctiveness of prevention and other anti-corruption measuresEnsure and recruit coordination of anti-corruption measures.The corruption in Turkey is the continuing interference of judicial and military power in Turkish executive and legislative powers. This is problematic if situationed with historic hindsight. The weakness of the boundaries that divide Turkish powers seems to be confirmed by the Ergenekon trial, which dictum more than three-hundred personalities involved in conspiracies aimed at weakening the government and maybe leading to a takeover detat.3. ErgenekonThe state is not necessarily innocent, and the people convicted of offenses with governmental repercussions in the quondam(prenominal) may well be victims of a deep state operation. That is the main lesson Turkey has learned from the current Ergenekon probe. The investigation itself is al fixate related to several(prenominal)(prenominal) get throughs and terrorist attacks of the recent past. Analysts claim that the state and the consanguinity of the state organs with the society, terrorist organizations and the mafia will create a of import opportunity to mobilize the public.8It will also create a policy-making will and determination to re unfold old dossiers filled with unsolved iniquitys and presumptively victimized convicts. Allegations that the Ergenekon terrorist organization was behind two attacks, the Council of State attack in 2006 and bombs thr feature at the headquarters of the Cumhuri in so far Daily in the same year, ascribed to a certain segment of society, gestate changed the entire view to analyze governmentally influential crimes. In this chapter I try to show you the link between Ergenekon and the corruption they caused on the works of politics, economics and military. First I start with the describing a few cases.3.1 Crime dossiersThe Turkish history is full of crime dossiers, either left(a) open or whose declaration was dis tacked.9Starting from the notorious Sheikh Said Revolt of 1925, passing through to the Dersim thrashings of 1937-1938, the Taksim Square killings of May, 1977, the in series(p) carrying into actions of secular-minded intellectuals in 1990 and more resentful and sophisticated attacks on symbolic names and institutions, question marks were left in the intelligencees of the people. One causal agency was the inconceivability of state involvement in these crimes. The regular army, which still places first in public surveys of the most respected institutions, was not only beyond reproach, it was also unthinkable, inaudible and unpronounceable to claim that army officers were committing crimes, not for the sake of the country, still for their own and evil interests. Now that the Ergenekon investigation has proven that Turkish officers are not sanctified angels and that they are judicable, detainable, liable to interrogation and arrest, that perplexed public consciousness is asking whether those old dossiers can be reopened and reinvestigated with this new framework in mind. The Istanbul chief public prosecuting attorney already announced that Ergenekon odds would be trailed for their involvement in the Council of State attack of May, 2006, an attack which left a judge dead, and in the throwing of hand grenades at the headquarters of Cumhuriyet Daily. It is suggested that the indictment and subsequent court last will put to work the open cases and may also induce a reopening of closed ones. On top of the list of reopening closed cases are the murder of Necip Hablemitolu, the Gazi neighborhood events, the murder of -zdemir Sabanc, the murder of General Eref Bitlis, the murder of Uur Mumcu and the murders that took place in the Adapazar-zmit-Sapanca triangle. The Ergenekon decision will also influence the brahim ifti case, already waiting for the Ergenekon trial to be finalized. ifti was killed in 2006 in a bombing soon after he confessed to a prosecutor that he killed Hablemitolu. The infl uence of the Ergenekon investigation wont wait for the prosecutors to open some of the older dossiers on their own. Already there are several criminal electric charges about detainees of the Ergenekon terrorist organization from the relatives of deep in thought(p) and murdered people. Families of Serdar Tan, a Peoples Democratic political party Silopi district deputy and Ebubekir Deniz already filed a complaint about brigadier General Levent Ersz, who is still being sought and is give tongue to to deport left for Russia before the last round of Ergenekon related detentions. The two were detained by the TSK seven years ago and were never heard from again. Relatives of the people killed during the Gazi incidents of 1995 also filed a complaint recently about Osman Grbz, who was arrested during the Ergenekon investigation. The Peoples Democratic society was banned from the society and therefore doesnt exists anymore.3.2 PoliticsAvni -zgrel, a columnist writing on Turkeys recent h istory is not optimistic. He thinks no one would be happier if real the perpetrators of certain political crimes were revealed.10 give ear at the peki murder. There is already an understanding that this was the job of nationalists. If this comment proves incorrect, we will lose the entire paradigm. The society may be ready for this, but the state is not, he told Sundays Zaman. accord to -zgrel, the state is happy with the current state of what is known. Further investigation would not be well accredited within the state. The state would be ready to claim some of the murders if they were in reality committed for the sake of the state or the country But what if an investigation reveals that the real reason was of a financial nature? What if notions like state and nation were used as a disguise for personal interests? he asked. -zgrel is not hopeful for the results of the Ergenekon investigation and hence does not want to cast up additional hopes to it. There is a political will i n Turkey, but politics is a politics of bargaining. The AK companionship is dealing with a closure case and no one knows what will r severally with the Ergenekon investigation if the AK Party is closed. Look at the constitutional amendments on the headscarf issue. There was a political will there, but it didnt help. We should wait and see whether this investigation will achieve a meaningful end, he explained. Mithat Sancar, a prof of law at Ankara University, agrees that the Ergenekon investigation is an opportunity to confront the murky past.11However, he thinks that uncomplete the government nor the courts can do this. The political government will intelligibly deal with what it sees necessary for its own political interests. Prosecutors and judges are in no position to start an investigation into the events of the past on their own. much(prenominal) an investigation necessitates a mobilization of democratic circles, especially the democratic left wing which has traditiona lly fought with militarism and the deep state, he told Sundays Zaman. gibe to Sancar, public control over the legal and political processes is also important to guarantee that the political government does not enter into the mistake of bargaining.3.3 The influence of the militaryErgenekon prosecutor Zekeriya -z is claimed to yield came upon significant information about the murder of assistant professor Hablemitolu in 2002. -z is claimed to have received strong evidence that Brigadier Geneneral Veli Kk, the prime suspect of the Ergenekon investigation, was involved in the abduction and killing of several Kurdish businessmen in the Adapazar-Izmit-Sapanca area within the first six months of 1994.12The influence of the Ergenekon investigation on a confrontation with historical crimes was not always direct and organic.13The circumstance that the Kahramanmara Massacre, in which over 100 Alevis were killed by alleged nationalists in December 1978, the murder of journalist Abdi Ipeki on February 1979, the murder of frontrunner nationalist Gn Sazak in May 1980 and the orum Massacre of twenty-six, unofficially fifty-six, Alevis paved the way for the military coup of 1980 is showing signs towards that direction. The link between these events and the Ergenekon terrorist organization doesnt have to be organic. The fact that the existence of a terrorist organization that penetrated into state organs, including the army, and conspired to stage violent coups gives enough material to consider the Kahramanmara, Ipeki, Sazak and orum incidents.14It has to be unbroken in mind that the prime suspects of the Ergenekon organization were already colonels in the army in the run-up to the 1980 coup and that their involvement in these events may have been more than learning a lesson. In Turkey it is already matte up that the plans of the Ergenekon terrorist organization is pushing the country into a uttermost of unrest in order to legitimize a military intervention. Next to that, former military judge mit Karda thinks that the political will that would confront the dark events of the past should have been powerful enough to confront Turkeys recent problems, such as the Kurdish issue.15The prosecution needs to have special support from not only the government but also from the media and the society, he told Sundays Zaman. According to him, the AK Party was and still is strong enough to give that support but, considering precedent opportunities lost, there is not enough evidence to be hopeful of its support. It has lost a major opportunity in emdinli. We also dont know whether the AK Party will be closed or not nor what will happen to the Ergenekon investigation if the party is closed. The investigation in itself is an opportunity, but there are reasons to be pessimistic that this opportunity will also be lost, he explained.3.4 FinancesFormer mayor of Istanbuls Esenyurt district Grbz apan, who is also currently under arrest on charges of being a financer of Ergenekon, was once offered immunity from arrest in Turkey by Ergenekon suspect retired General Veli Kk, tally to claims of Bertan Zlaolu and erafettin Dz, who served as the former deputy mayor and an aide to apan, respectively, during his term as head of the Esenler municipality.16apan was being sought as a suspect in a major corruption operation carried out by the TSK into miscellaneous municipalities, including Esenler, when he was abroad in Germany. He also owns ten percent of the shares of Cumhuriyet Daily and is currently being charged with financing Ergenekon. apan was established as a suspect in the Ergenekon investigations when it became clear that he had meetings with Ergenekon suspects Dou Perinek, leader of the neo-nationalist Workers Party and Kemal -zden, head of the Nationalist Industrialists and Businessmens Association. Furthermore, prosecutor Zekeriya -z, who is the chief prosecutor on the Ergenekon case, has frequently been target of various smear campaigns dir ected from diametric segments of society. Aydnlk, Cumhuriyet and Szc newspapers claimed that in 1998, when -z served in the ine district of Aydn, he tried to twitch money from businessman Mehmet Ocak. Metin Uyar, the former head of the ine Industrial Zone and Ahmet Kele, president of the ine Drivers and Motorists Chamber, denied any truth to those allegations. The future will hopefully tell us more about the link between Ergenekon and the corruption they caused on the field of economy. Popular history writer Aye Hr thinks the Ergenekon lot has a distinctive ideological position.17The ideological tools of the organization are yet to be revealed. So far this has been an operation against a criminal gang, she told Sundays Zaman. According to her, as long as the ideological tools have not been revealed, it is almost impossible to disclose the link between criminal actions of the Ergenekon organization and the earliest political crimes. For that we need a stronger will. Political wi ll is not enough, she said. According to her, the society is not ready for a full-fledged cleansing and there is no real consensus on the nature of the threat. The opposition of the AK Party is undervaluing the operation, whereas we should have dealt with the facts and not with who said what, she explained.4. The four syndromesAccording to Michael Johnston, established democracies tend to have mature market economies in which liberalization is largely considered. He also states that there are also reforming democratic societies in which political disceptation is still emerging or undergoing significant change. Furthermore, he describes that there are countries who are undergoing major transitions in politics and economics. He noted that Turkey is an example of such country. Last, but not least, Johnston also describes that there are undemocratic regimes who are by definition marked by political opportunities. Johnston links those societies with four syndromes Influence Markets, eli te group Cartels, Oligarchs and Clans and Official Moguls. Below you can see a table with an overview18.In the recent years Turkey made a huge progress in reforming its democracy and economy. That is the reason I agree with Johnston that the corruption in Turkey can be described with the Elite Cartels syndrome. The stronger the economical and state institution, the lesser corruption occurs according to Johnston. In the syndrome Influence Markets the corruption will most likely seen in the economical system. Johnston also recognizes that the stronger a constitution is, the bigger the chance will be that such institution will abuse its power by sealing deals with other powerful institutions. In this chapter you can read what the Elite Cartels syndrome is according to Johnston and wherefore Turkey can be linked with this syndrome. I will close this chapter with the Turkish governments point of view about its future. The other two syndromes have similar corruption cases, but it is like ly that in undemocratic regimes the corruption is bigger than in transitional regimes.4.1 Elite Cartels syndromeIn the Elite Cartels syndrome, the corruption is of defensive nature, protecting existing economic, political or policy advantages. Corruption is conducted through networks and elite parties, sometimes seeking each other to become allies for a greater purpose. Looking back to chapter three, Ergenekon can be seen as a network who is extremely powerful. They are powerful because they have, as it is determined by the prosecutors, economical, political and policy advantages. time these advantages are decreasing, still no one really knows how big Ergenekon is. thus the power of Ergenekon cannot be underestimated. Prove was found, and mentioned in chapter three, that in the past Ergenekon could form freely and successfully. Many cases were closed without a legitimate reason and political parties were banned from the society. The AK Party was also close to getting banned from the society. The fact that the closure of the AK Party failed determines the moderate power of the state and its capacity.4.2 The governments point of viewWe hope the shroud of mist over the facts will be loyal with this operation. We want the Ergenekon indictment to be completed as soon as possible, stated Erdoan.19Erdoan also said during his parliamentary group meeting that his ruling AK Party is the only address for Turkeys full membership in the European Union. He noted that Ataturks goal of reaching a higher level of civilization equals integration with the modern world. By making that note he wants to drive his country towards mature democratic society.However, some circles cannot stand democracy in Turkey. Whenever Turkey attempts to stand on its own feet, whenever it musters up its strength, these circles put hurdles before it. The basis of Turkish politics lies in a struggle between those in favour of Turkeys development and those who oppose it. eon some want Turkey to be come a global power, others want the preservation of the status quo in the country, he stated. With that statement, Erdoan confirms the fact that corruption in turkey is of defensive nature. Erdoan also noted that a movement which isnt in symmetry with the fundamental principles of the constitutional order and which doesnt act in harmony with the basic characteristics of the republic will not be successful in Turkey. With that note Erdoan points his finger to the economical and political reforms his government made in the recent years and that Ergenekon should be consider as a dark chapter of the Turkish history.5. ConclusionTurkey, as a successor of the Ottoman Empire, is a republican parliamentary democracy established in 29th October 1923 by Mustafa Kemal. In July 2009 the population of Turkey was estimated 76,8 million. The GPD of Turkey grew between 2002 and 2007 with an average of six percent. Despite the strong economy, the GDP in 2008 grew with zero point nine percent and i t was decreased in 2009 with five point nine percent, a thirty-four year record low. The TSK leadership plays a key role in politics and considers itself the guardian of Turkeys secular state. In December 2007 Turkey started, with the help of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the project on Ethics for the legal profession of Corruption in Turkey (TYEC) for a term of two years. The corruption in Turkey is the continuing interference of judicial and military power in Turkish executive and legislative powers. The weakness of the boundaries that divide Turkish powers seems to be confirmed by the Ergenekon trial, which saw more than three-hundred personalities involved in conspiracies aimed at weakening the government and possibly leading to a coup detat. The state is not necessarily innocent, and the people convicted of crimes with political repercussions in the past may well be victims of a deep state operation. That is the main lesson Turkey has learned from the current E rgenekon investigation. The Turkish history is full of crime dossiers, either left open or whose closure was disputed. According to Sancar, public control over the legal and political processes is also important to guarantee that the political government does not enter into the mistake of bargaining. It has to be kept in mind that the prime suspects of the Ergenekon organization were already colonels in the army in the run-up to the 1980 coup and that their involvement in these events may have been more than learning a lesson. In Turkey it is already felt that the plans of the Ergenekon terrorist organization is pushing the country into a period of unrest in order to legitimize a military intervention. The future will hopefully tell us more about the link between Ergenekon and the corruption they caused on the field of economy, in which there is already made important progress. Anyway, Ergenekon can be seen as a network who is extremely powerful. They are powerful because they have, as it is determined by the prosecutors, economical, political and policy advantages. That is why the Elite Cartels syndrome can be linked with Turkey. The fact that the closure of the AK Party failed determines the moderate power of the state and its capacity. However, Erdoan points his finger to the economical and political reforms his government made in the recent years and that Ergenekon should be consider as a dark chapter of the Turkish history.