The Rule of Law = Democracy

"My opinion is that they are criminals -- the police and the judges and prosecutors. If you can destroy this organization, you can save democracy."
Osman Can, central committee member, Turkey's Justice and Development Party

"The rule of law is by far the most notable casualty of the ongoing crisis. It is unclear whether the government is committed to this principle, and it is equally questionable whether the judiciary and the police can actually deliver justice."
Wolfango Piccoli, analyst, Teneo Intelligence, London

It is questionable, most certainly whether the judiciary and police are capable of delivering justice simply because none of them know when any of them will next be arrested and charged en masse for the crime of treason against Turkey. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reacted as might be expected for someone of his temperament and famed autocratic irascibility by fuming about foreign instigators striving to bring catastrophic social-political breakdown to Turkey.

And because of the crisis that has erupted between the government, its justice system practitioners and its domestic security forces which according to Mr. Erdogan have conspired evilly to smear his party with charges of corruption, he has no other choice but to keep arresting, and firing those leading the investigation into corruption. And he will take all possible steps to succeed in prosecuting them for attempting a coup.

There's a relatively recent precedent, after all. When Prime Minister Erdogan gutted Turkey's military of its senior generals and placed them on trial for sedition, and had them sentenced to very long disciplinary imprisonments. The military has been rather quiescent since those purges. No longer nobly invested in ensuring that the tradition of Kemal Ataturk prevailed. Permitting the slow creep of Islamism to blanket the country.



Mr. Erdogan's pride in asserting that his rule has hugely benefited Turkey's economy is now evaporating as he is presiding over a battered Turkish market. His party accuses an Islamic cleric who had once supported them of allowing his personal hunger for power to overtake his loyalty to the country. The millions of followers of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, according to Mr. Erdogan, have infiltrated the police and the judiciary and now seek to wreak havoc in Turkey in a move to unseat the legal government.

AFP/AFP/File - A Turkish protester (L) holds up a banner with pictures of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) and the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen (R) during a demonstration against the government

The Justice and Development Party came to power over a decade ago on a fervent promise to clean up corruption in the country. They portrayed themselves as cleaner than the fresh-driven snow, white and pure in thought and action. Suddenly revealed through the arrest of three offspring of three government ministers of Mr. Erdogan's cabinet to be less incorruptible than imagined. And one of the three cabinet ministers who resigned (was fired) implicated Mr. Erdogan directly.

Prosecutors leading the investigations have been re-assigned by the government. Almost two thousand police officers have been dismissed ever since revelations broke of the 15-month secret investigations. The latest notice of dismissals had the government reassigning the deputy head of the national police force and the recalling of police chiefs from 15 provinces, including Ankara's police chief. They had arrested and charged with corruption, after all, the country's leading banker.

As an aspiring candidate (of long standing) to join the European Union, Turkey must respect EU entry criteria, a spokesman for the European Commission declared, including rule of law, and deal with corruption allegations "in a transparent and impartial manner", said Olivier Bailly at a news conference. Expressing the EU's alarm over "the capacity of the legal system and the police to conduct independent investigations".

In which case, there should be no cause for alarm. Mr. Erdogan and his Islamist cabal are acting in a perfectly transparent manner. Their bullying authoritarianism has been on display on earlier occasions, and during this unfortunate time of the unmasking of the character traits and less-than-impressive dedication to clean and clear government, originating with the revelations surrounding Mr. Erdogan's transferring of sanctioned financial support to the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Islamic Republic of Turkey as a NATO member, is now fully transparent.

A Turkish protester holds up a placard reading, "Only revolution can clear this corruption" during a demonstration against government on December 30, 2013 in Istanbul