Kutan: State Out of Touch with People

Speaking from Corum, one of the stops on a national tour initiated on June 1, Virtue Party (FP) leader Recai Kutan said, "If the law in Turkey really was to be applied properly, then the elements the esteemed general complains about would not warrant complaint from anybody," the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.

Stating that the public's number-one concern was the state of the economy and the struggle just to make a living, Kutan said that according to research polls, reactionaryism was seventh on the list of the public's concerns, which demonstrates that Ankara's agenda does not tie in with that of the public. Kutan listed the public's primary concern as the economic crisis and said this was closely followed by unfair practices, corruption and theft. According to Kutan, only 3.5-4 percent of citizens are concerned with reactionaryism.

Naturally, journalists' first question for Kutan concerned his reaction to remarks made by Chief of General Staff Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu on Wednesday. Kutan said: "Turkey is a lawful state where everything has been laid down in the law and the Constitution. … This is why we insist on a lawful state, on a Turkey with supremacy of law and a democratic makeup. This is what we are fighting for."

On the subject of the recent case opened against Fethullah Gülen in which his community is considered an organization, Kutan's reply was very noncommittal: "I say the same thing. Turkey is a lawful state and according to our Constitution, the principle of the distribution of powers (judiciary, executive, legislature) is valid. Everybody serves as is laid down in the Constitution. Consequently, the key points in the Fethullah Gülen case will be investigated by an independent judiciary, which will ultimately decide on a verdict. Consequently, until such time as it has been passed through an independent judiciary, it would not be in keeping with the law for myself or anyone else to pass judgement." 2000-04-09 00:00:00