Head of Turkey's medical association arrested
The Turkish human rights activist and chair of the Turkish Medical Association Şebnem Korur Fincancı has been arrested for "terror propaganda" after she said on a pro-Kurdish TV station that there should be an independent investigation into Turkey's alleged use of chemical weapons against the PKK in northern Iraq. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has now called for her resignation as head of the association. Commentators suspect political motives.
Erdoğan needs new enemies
Fincancı's demands are legitimate and in no way criminal, T24 insists:
“We know why Erdoğan and his junior partner are creating new enemies and animosities before the elections. It's no longer surprising that the supposedly independent judiciary is also involved. Once a person is accused by the regime, it no longer matters how they defend themselves, whether they committed the alleged crime or what they actually said. ... The demand for Fincancı's dismissal without even waiting for the court to decide whether or not she is guilty is another legal disgrace. Fincancı is not the first innocent person the Erdoğan regime has put behind bars, and until his electoral defeat she will clearly not be the last.”
Arrest does more damage than good
A procedure based on the rule of law would hardly have attracted this much international attention, Karar notes:
“The Ankara general prosecutor's office could have summoned Fincancı to make a statement. Fincancı would then have explained to the prosecutor on what basis she made the accusations against her own state, her own country. It's as simple as that. But what kind of picture has now emerged? President Erdoğan and MHP leader Bahçeli staged an offensive, the judiciary intervened and the court issued an arrest warrant against Şebnem Korur Fincancı. Is our judiciary independent and impartial? Should we trust our judiciary? And more importantly, does such an image of the judiciary enhance or damage Turkey's international reputation?”