We haven't seen this much even in coup eras

It feels more powerful and secure if the judiciary adopts its priorities and sensitivities. This is clearly a more salient tendency in countries that haven't fully completed their process of democratization in terms of principles, mentality and culture. The ruling parties of the countries with stable democracies may be tainted by such ambitions as well. This is because governments by nature seek to feel powerful and secure. However, in such countries, the independent judiciary relies solely on the rule of law. The judiciary adopts no "mission" other than to apply the laws equally to everyone. No government can disrupt the principle of the separation of powers. This sound functioning of democracy made them stable democracies in the first place.

Things are different in our case. It is a well-known fact that the judiciary has been acting at the behest of the official ideology for many decades. "Threats and dangers" as defined by the state have long overridden the rule of the law.

Certainly, Turkey has changed. One of the turning points of our time has indisputably been the move to put on trial coup attempts such as the criminal cases against the members of Ergenekon -- a clandestine organization nested within the state trying to overthrow or manipulate the democratically elected government -- and the perpetrators of the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plan. This tough process of change has apparently entered its most problematic stage. Indeed, there is no longer the dark shadow of the military tutelage on the political scene, but there is a ruling party that believes it is "destined" to rule the country forever...

The ruling party's desire to exert full control over the judiciary has turned into an ambition it can no longer hide.

Even during the coup eras, the coup perpetrators would say, "The judiciary is independent, and we cannot meddle with it," whenever a problem concerning the judiciary emerged. They would parrot this phrase even if they didn't believe in it. This was because the judiciary constituted a sensitive area, and by uttering such remarks, they believed they were keeping up appearances.

The way the ruling party has chosen to handle the shocking graft investigation can only be defined as panic. And anything done during such moments of panic tend to be wrong. I haven't seen such open and ruthless interventions into the judiciary even during the coup eras.

The police chiefs who conducted the graft investigation were removed from office and numerous police chiefs were sacked for no apparent reason, while new prosecutors were appointed to conduct the investigation. The ministers who were implicated in the investigation are still in office, while a collective purge of police chiefs is under way. In addition, police officers have been prohibited from conducting investigations without informing their superiors. The only thing the ruling party didn't do is introduce immunity from prosecution for their members...

This attitude of the ruling party, which has always claimed to have refrained from all sorts of fraud or corruption, has shocked firstly its own supporters. It appears that the ruling party believes it can distract attention from the graft investigation by creating some ambiguous enemies or referring to fuzzy concepts such as a "conspiracy of foreign powers," but it fails to see that no one is buying it.

There is a price the ruling party will pay for its stance toward the graft probe.

It may be planning to "conquer the judiciary" with its recent moves, but this plan is doomed to failure. I won't repeat the common motto: "The judiciary is independent." But there is something we call collective conscience, and this conscience will make those who forget this remember it with utter regret. However, it will be too late for some...