Spotlight: Naysayers demonized, under pressure ahead of Turkish vote on executive presidency

As a referendum in which a highly polarized Turkey will vote on whether to adopt the presidential system draws near, pressures coupled with demonization against naysayers seem to be on the rise.

Those who would vote no in the plebiscite have often been identified with being on the side with terrorism and behind a coup attempt of last summer by leading ruling party figures.

Two prominent journalists were recently fired from the Dogan Media Group, the country's leading media conglomerate, for having spoken against the proposed executive presidency.

Irfan Degirmenci, a presenter of morning news with Kanal D TV channel, was dismissed for announcing over his personal Twitter account that he would vote no in the referendum slated for April 16.

Hakan Celenk, a columnist with the Posta daily, was sacked after arguing on television against the switch to the presidential system.

Both Kanal D and the Posta daily are part of the Dogan Media Group, which has been criticized by some for adopting a line favoring more the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) after it won last general elections in 2015.

Fatih Cekirge, a columnist with the Hurriyet daily, Turkey's most influential newspaper which belongs to Dogan as well, said in his column at the end of last month that he would vote yes.

Cekirge, who is, according to rumors circulating in media circles, among potential candidates to become the editor-in-chief of Hurriyet, did not meet with any sanctions.

In a statement last week, Dogan defended the dismissal of the Kanal D presenter, arguing Degirmenci had violated the group's editorial principle of impartiality by being part of the no campaign with polarizing wording of his tweet.

Without making any mention of Cekirge, the statement said the group did not impose any sanctions against columnists who had declared their voting tendencies without violating the editorial principles.

Ozgur Ozel, a leading figure and lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), criticized Dogan's attitude in an interview with CNNTurk, also owned by the group, saying the conglomerate's argument is not convincing.

"Any move that serves to intimidate naysayers are seen as legitimate (by the government)," Ibrahim Kaboglu, a professor of constitutional law, told Xinhua.

Kaboglu is among 330 academicians from various universities who were recently sacked under a government decree for allegedly being linked with terrorist organizations.

Sinan Ogan, one of the leading naysayers among nationalist voters, complained to the Sozcu daily last week that he was no longer invited to TV programs, claiming "because they have been so instructed."

The president of Turkey will be granted sweeping powers if the constitutional amendments proposed by the AKP are accepted in the referendum.

Kaboglu strongly criticized the AKP proposals for crippling democratic principles such as separation of powers, arguing no constitutional amendments should be made during times of emergency rule.

Referring to the removal of hundreds of professors from universities, he said, "This is an act aimed at intimidating and terrorizing (the society), a move seeking to eliminate those who could raise awareness among people in favor of a no vote."

Turkey has been under an emergency rule since a coup bid was foiled in July last year.

Most recently, Suheyl Batum, a professor of constitutional law at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University, was expelled last week by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations apparently on the grounds that he is part of a no campaign.

Batum dismissed claims that he had himself resigned from his post, telling the Ulusal Kanal TV channel on Friday, "That's absolutely not true that I left the university by my own will."

In remarks to the Sozcu daily, Batum, who previously served as rector at the same private university, said, "The fact that they had to stop my classes clearly indicates that the government is applying with all its institutions an unbelievable pressure in the period leading up to the referendum."

Bican Sahin, president of the Ankara-based Freedom Research Association, does not think the purge of 330 academicians is a move aimed at silencing potential no campaigners, but could be perceived so under the circumstances.

A professor of political science with Hacettepe University in Ankara, Sahin essentially sees the dismissals as a move against those who signed last year a petition calling for an end to the military operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

"Purging academics who did not commit any crime other than express their views, which may be wrong, may give the impression of silencing the dissidents and damage the legitimacy of the referendum," he told Xinhua.

Getting more than half the votes is enough to win the referendum, while the AKP garnered over 49 percent of the ballot in last general elections.

A non-negligible portion of the sympathizers of the ruling party, however, may not vote yes in the referendum, said reports in local media.

According to a survey made public at the end of last month by the Konsensus polling company, around 10 percent of AKP voters will not vote yes, while another 10 percent remain undecided.

Some media reports and statements by leading political figures imply that the referendum vote may be a close call based on current voter preferences.

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is the only opposition party supporting the government's yes campaign. The party's line in the referendum has, however, created a deep divide within the party and among nationalist voters.

Many leading figures of the party have publicly declared a no vote and jointly launched a no campaign last weekend.

Meral Aksener, for one, recently managed to organize a "no" meeting in the western city of Canakkale.

The power for the hall, where the meeting was to take place, was cut off by the hotel at the last minute. Police also entered the hall on the grounds that order could be disrupted.

The meeting was nevertheless held as scheduled and Aksener addressed the crowd, estimated as many as 1,000, by a bullhorn in a hall lightened by mobile phones of the participants.

As some of its own voters are projected not to say yes to a switch to the presidential system from the current parliamentarian one, the AKP wants to win over MHP voters who are more ideologically aligned with it as compared to the sympathizers from other parties.

Recent remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan implied that public polls do not for the moment indicate a strong support for a stronger presidency.

"I don't regard it as possible that our people are in a position to understand the presidential system. We must tell about it in a detailed way," the president said days before.

Many opposition parties strongly oppose the constitutional amendments aimed at introducing the executive presidency, arguing the AKP's proposal would lead to an authoritarian one-man rule.

The AKP's model is also blasted for weakening the parliament, lacking proper check and balance while creating an all-powerful president who would also have a strong control over the judiciary.

Aksener claimed following the hotel incident, apparently based on some recent opinion polls, that 56 percent of the voters would vote no, while only 37 percent would say yes.

Local media quoted her as saying that she expected the MHP dissidents' campaign to meet with great pressure.

A union leader was assaulted in front of his house in Ankara about ten days ago, but he escaped unharmed while his driver was injured by a bullet in the attack.

It is not clear yet whether the attack was related to the union leader's opposition to the executive presidency.

Some leading members of the ruling party, like President Erdogan, have been using, in an apparent bid to consolidate its base of voters and win over nationalists, a discourse that describes naysayers as if they were aligned with terrorism.

Arguing that the PKK and those behind the failed coup will be voting no, the president recently said, "My nation would not act in line with those on the Qandil."

The PKK, which has its headquarters on the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, has been fighting a bloody war against Turkey to establish an autonomous, if not independent, Kurdistan in the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast.

Erdogan also claimed that those who say no would be on the same side with those who attempted the coup on July 15, saying, "The April 16 will be the answer to July 15. Naysayers will have sided with the July 15."

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also identified the no campaign with terrorism in a speech last week, saying he does not expect any Turkish citizen to follow the terrorists' way.

Kaboglu, who used to lecture in French universities, feels concerned that government pressure may further increase against dissidents in the coming weeks.

"Those who promote the no campaign could meet with various intimidations such as detention, police raid on domicile," he maintained.

Cevdet Kayafoglu, a deputy chief prosecutor in the southern province of Antalya, threatened over Twitter that those who would vote no would be treated the same as the PKK terrorists.

Back in December, the headquarters of the Yenicag daily in Istanbul was attacked by a mob of around 20. The masked group, armed with sticks and stones, broke windows of the building and damaged the information desk at the entrance.

The daily, which is ideologically aligned with nationalists, is close to dissidents within the MHP and highly critical of the MHP leadership for lending support to the presidential system.

A book about the MHP leader, Devlet Bahceli, and prominent figures of the nationalist movement was seized by the authorities on a court verdict the day it was distributed last month.

Selahattin Onkibar, the author of the book, said in his column in the Aydinlik daily last week that his book was seized because the MHP leader was described as a person not well-qualified for party leadership.

He also claimed on Halk TV on Friday that leading dissident figures among nationalists and some dissident journalists may be in the coming weeks taken under custody by the police following a fake attempt on Bahceli's life.

In the jostling, an AKP provincial official told people to get ready for civil war should a no vote emerge victorious in the referendum.

"If we cannot get more than 50 percent and fail in this referendum, get ready for a civil war," Ozan Erdem, the party's Manisa provincial deputy head, said last week while addressing the party's sympathizers in a conference.

Erdem resigned from his post upon demand by the ruling party, but claimed his remarks had been distorted.

According to Kaboglu, such remarks are the result of the AKP's demonization of dissidents. "All its top officials keep identifying naysayers with terrorism. This is very dangerous," he remarked. Endit