Babacan: There is no longer freedom of thought in Turkey

* Photo: DEVA Party

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DEVA Party Chair Ali Babacan, also a former Deputy Prime Minister from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), spoke at his party's 1st Ordinary Batman Provincial Congress yesterday (October 11).

Criticizing the government's policies against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Babacan briefly stated the following:

"It is an historic moment for me to be in Batman, where Hasankeyf is located. Even saying this is heartbreaking for me.

"Beautiful Hasankeyf, with its history dating back to 12 thousand years ago, one of the oldest settlements of the world has been engulfed. We could not esteem our history in Batman.

'They struggle against the TTB'

"Batman is one of our provinces affected by the pandemic most. It is now impossible to say that the government can manage anything. They cannot manage the pandemic, either. The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) was crying out that 'numbers were wrong, multiply them by five or ten.'

"But the government has started a struggle against the physicians instead of struggling against the disease. The junior partner [Nationalist Movement Party-MHP] accused the TTB of treason. Whenever they come across an opinion they do not like, they start to call people 'traitors'.

"If we start to count, half of the country is a traitor for them. Today, there is no longer freedom of thought in Turkey. Whoever expresses opinions is arrested. They are trying to rule the country with fear. Journalists who report news not in the interest of the government are either arrested or dismissed.

'Every language is our language'

"The duty of the state should not be to prevent its citizens from using their mother languages. Every single language, every single dialect spoken in this land is ours, it is our richness.

"I said this in Diyarbakır as well: We will remove all types of obstacles standing in the way of equality of opportunity in education, including the difference of mother language. We will make every effort befitting a democratic state of law to ensure that people can use and improve their mother languages, we will take bold steps in this area.

'Increase the number of tests'

"They did not conduct enough tests. They made people enter the same places with positive cases. They sent the ones tested for the virus to their homes with public transportation, telling them to 'go and wait for the test result.' They made more efforts to ensure the further spread of the virus.

"We have said this over and over again: Increase the number of tests and set up test stations. But, above all else, tell people the truth. Share data properly. Take measures. But they held rallies and threw tea bags to people.

'They prepared another file against Kavala'

"They immediately brought another file against Osman Kavala. They now accuse him of 'plotting a coup.' They demand life sentence aggravated for three times. This government no longer has anything to do with the law. They are only interested in utilizing the law in committing crimes.

"Arresting people by instrumentalizing the judiciary, placing them under pressure and silencing them... We will never accept this mindset that disregards the rule of law." (RT/SD)