AKP rejects giving seat to opposition at the executive board of coup commission
Known for his praising remarks of Gülen, AKP member Reşat Petek has been selected as the chair of the Parliamentary Commission on Coup Investigation. While the executive board of the committee is also made up only by AKP members, solely the chair has been given the authority to determine which individuals and institutions would be called on as part of the investigations.
SEBAHAT KARAKOYUN
As a parliamentary committee has been formed with the participation of all standing parties in order for the coup attempt to be investigated, Reşat Petek, an AKP member known for his praising remarks for Fethullah Gülen, has been chosen as the person to lead the group. In spite of objections of the opposition, the executive board of the committee has also been created by inclusion of only AKP members; and, furthermore, the head of the committee has been given the sole authority to determine who and which institutions to invite to take part in the investigations.
The ruling party has been trying to ensure that operations, which have been taking place for the purging of private and public institutions from those connected, directly or indirectly, to FETÖ, do not involve its own members. In an attempt to create confusion with regards to who is actually the target and starting off a speedy witch-hunt all the while, AKP has also demonstrated its true intentions, once again, at the newly established Parliamentary Commission on Coup Investigation.
Opposition is left out
The parliamentary commission that is to investigate the July 15 coup attempt has made the delegation of roles within the commission and determined the conditions of working on the tasks. AKP Burdur MP Reşat Petek, whose inclusion at the Commission had already caused the opposition to react because Petek is known for his admiration for Gülen, has been selected as the head of the Commission with the ‘yes’ vote of 9 AKP members in the Commission, out of a total of 15 members.
Meanwhile, as members of opposition parties objected AKP’s rejection to include opposition members in the executive board of the Commission, CHP MP Aytun Çıray was proposed as the candidate to be the head and received 5 votes.
Head of the Commission is the sole authority
The opposition members were left out also when the decisions with regards to the management and operation of the Commission were being made. While the opposition did not object most of the 8 items about management, they firmly reacted against the item where ‘the head of the Commission is given the sole authority to delegate roles to experts; to handle correspondences; and, to determine who and which institutions are to be invited to take part in the investigations. Though the opposition proposed that people to be selected and invited to be involved in the Commission’s work should be determined by the Commission, AKP members in the Commission rejected it.
CHP MP Tanrıkulu: ‘It’s not a good start!’
One of the CHP members at the Commission, MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu reminded that all four parties at the Parliament gave their signatures to the joint declaration against the July 15 coup attempt and added: “The Parliament took a stand against this coup attempt all together. This parliamentary commission’s executive board should also have included all four political parties.”
Mentioning that AKP has not only avoided comments and propositions of the opposition but it has even gone as far as appointing a name that had already caused reactions from the start as the head of the commission. Furthermore, Tanrıkulu stated that this person has also been given the sole authority to determine the contacts of the Commission and continued to say: “It has not been a good start! The fact that it will be the Head of the commission that is to determine who will be called on to the Commission has already damaged any future tasks. AKP has demonstrated during the very first meeting that it will run the Commission in accordance with only its agenda; and, it has left so many questions in minds!”
CHP MP Çıray: ‘Reşat Petek should be questioned as well’
CHP MP Aytun Çıray also pointed out that they objected and warned about even the membership of Reşat Petek in the Commission, adding: “Reşat Petek had given support to cases of Ergenekon and Balyoz openly; meaning, Petek is a person whose ties to FETÖ must be investigated!”
Praises of Petek about Gülen
The person selected as the head of the parliamentary commission on coup investigation, Reşat Petek, had actually given praising remarks about Gülen in the past at several instances and they had been reported in the media as well.
Some of such remarks are as the following:
“…We have been seeing the expression of ‘Type F’ in certain media sources lately. It is now understood that this assertion has been spread with a purpose. As the members of our nation, we must be even more alert!” (12 June 2009, Zaman newspaper)
“…Although honorable Fethullah Gülen Hodja has been acquitted and this decision of the court has been final, branches of the Ergenekon within the Parliament has been given statements from the Parliament and calling him (Gülen) and his supporters a gang.” (2011, TV8)
Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/akp-bize-uzanmasin-diye-onlem-aldi-130414.html