This amendment is very likely to impede confidential investigations from now on and runs contrary to the separation of powers, according to columnists.
According to Bugün's Gülay Göktürk, the amendment made by the government is a loathsome one that will no longer allow prosecutors to carry out an investigation without the knowledge of the government. “This means that there is no protection for the conduct of a confidential investigation against a minister or a government official,” she says. In the wake of this development, Göktürk says she wants to ask a question to those who say this investigation should continue until the very end: “If things go on like this, how will this investigation continue until the end? Does this amendment comply with your understanding of the separation of powers and independence of judiciary? Does it not contradict all the laws that guarantee the confidentiality of an investigation?” Göktürk also complains that although some journalists also say the investigation should continue until the very end, they never question the way the investigation is being carried out and turn a blind eye to the measures the government has been taking to impede the investigation. “Is it not very evident that the investigation cannot continue until the very end under these circumstances?” she asks.
Another columnist from the Bugün daily, Gültekin Avcı, criticizes some media outlets such as the Star and Yeni Şafak dailies who misinterpreted a visit paid by İstanbul Deputy Chief Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz to the İstanbul Police Office to inspect the police chiefs and to check on the detention procedures used for the suspects in the corruption probe. These dailies described Öz's visit as an illegal raid. Referring to the relevant articles on the regulation of the security forces, Avcı, a retired public prosecutor, says the prosecutor has every legal right to inspect the police chiefs and see whether the detention procedures executed in accordance with the law. According to Avcı, what those newspapers are doing is just black propaganda and lying.
ERGİN HAVA
SEVGİ AKARÇEŞME
BEGÜM BURAK
E. BARIŞ ALTINTAŞ
OĞUZHAN TEKİN
MAHIR ZEYNALOV
MUSTAFA GÜRBÜZ
M. EDİB YILMAZ
MUSTAFA GERDAN
DENİZ ERGÜREL
LAURA MOTH
LAMİYA ADİLGIZI
HAYAT ALVI
HALİL BİLECEN
SİNEM CENGİZ
ABDULLA HAWEZ
MEHMET SOLMAZ
ERDOAN A. SHIPOLI
ALİ ZEYNEL GÖKPINAR
İSA ERASLAN
FATMA DEMİRELLİ
ŞULE KULU
ESRA MADEN
ABDULLAH AYASUN
EMİRHAN YORULMAZLAR
HAROON MOGHUL
YUSRA GHANNOUCHI
JAMES KIGER
PINAR VURUCU