BY UMIT ZILELI
CUMHURIYET- Let's take a few snapshots of what's happening in Turkey:
When a 15-year-old girl in Adana came forward to receive an award for her composition wearing a headscarf, she was rebuked by the authorities. Then Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan called her to express his regret over the incident and told her, `All this will be changed.' In addition, state officials who were just doing their duty were accused of practicing `discrimination'!
Another 16-year-old girl in Rize took off her headscarf for an awards ceremony after she was warned by the school principal. The premier again got angry about the incident and told the girl's father on the phone that he would take a `personal interest' in it. Then an investigation was started by Rize's governor. Officials acting in line with the law were treated like criminals.
Let's continue these snapshots.
President Abdullah Gul told reporters on his plane en route to Pakistan that the Board of Higher Education (YOK) had sent him a file on an open rectorship, with one of three candidates flagged with a note saying that that his wife was wearing a black chador. Gul added that after an investigation, he found out that the candidate was actually single. YOK Chairman Erdogan Tezic immediately denied the allegation, saying they had attached no such note. Later Gul added that he didn't say YOK was responsible. So, just as intended, YOK was battered just before the selection of a new chairman and debate over a new constitution.
An iman leading the funeral of a victim of last week's plane crash in Isparta urged people with photos of the beloved pinned to their collars to take them off, and nobody raised any objections!
With a law passed by Parliament and signed by the president at lightning speed, a new era, which enables the use of interviews in the hiring process of judges and prosecutors, began. Some 4,000 vacant positions will be filled to begin with .
The ATV-Sabah group was sold yesterday to the Calik Group, led by the premier's son-in-law, in only five minutes. The group, which was the only bidder, won the tender with an offer of $1.1 billion, which was the minimum opening bid. Two other groups bowed out of the tender at the last minute.
This is what we've seen in the last couple of days. These incidents seem to be separate from each other, but actually they're closely connected! We're moving quickly into becoming a religious country . The media and judiciary are being reshaped in order to accelerate that transformation.
The power to stop this from happening is in the hands of the people . It's time for us to protect the Republic, to stand up. On Sunday, there will be a rally in Ankara's Tandogan Square called `Hands Off the Judiciary,' and it will be an important opportunity to show that the country hasn't been forsaken.
Let's stand up for the Republic, for a bright future, for our children!