Following the decision of reinstatement of the State of Emergency Inquiry Commission (hereinafter “the Commission”) regarding the 10 dismissed staff of the Turkish Parliament (TBMM) personnel; the Speaker of TBMM, Mr. Sentop filed a criminal complaint against the reinstated staff. A TBMM committee also conducted a visit to the Commission. Turkish Parliament Speaker’s recent undue interference in the appeal process is seen by many as the final nail in the Commission’s long diminishing respectability.

The President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), Mustafa Sentop, asked the TBMM personnel to be careful on FETO investigations and dismissal decisions issued in relation to FETO. Following the Commission’s restitution decision of about 10 TBMM personnel, Mr. Sentop instructed a visit to the Commission. During that visit the Commission personnel affirmed that the restitution decisions of the Commission were based on objective criterions. Meetings with the members of the “identification commission” that had been tasked with identifying the TBMM personnel, who had links to FETO were conducted and the dismissal decisions were re-examined. The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Ministry of Interior were communicated.

According to the information gathered by Milliyet Daily, the Commission decided on the restitution of 10 dismissed TBMM personnel. Following this decision, Mr. Sentop conducted a meeting with the TBMM administration. Following his statements that the restitution of the personnel about whom TBMM had prepared a report that concluded their dismissal (due to their relation to FETO) to be indispensable could not be accepted; Mr. Sentop filed a criminal complaint against the TBMM personnel in question.

The files have been taken off the shelves.

Upon the restitution decisions, the TBMM administration decided to re-examine all the dismissal decisions issued by TBMM. Reports prepared by MIT and the Police Intelligence Bureau and other evidence regarding 10 people on which the restitution decisions were rendered and other dismissal decisions were re-examined.

Moreover, during this re-examination process the Secretary General of TBMM, Mehmet Ali Kumbuzoglu, conducted meetings with the members of the “identification commission” that had been tasked with identifying the TBMM personnel who had links to FETO and dismissing those who had been found to have such links. Apart from Mr. Kumbuzoglu himself, the members of the “identification commission” included the former Deputy Secretary Generals of TBMM, Baki Ates and Erbay Kucet and the former Head of the Department of Legal Affairs, Cevdet Yasar. Mr. Kumbuzoglu and other members of the “identification commission” exchanged thoughts on whether the dismissal decisions had included deficiencies. All the files that had been concluded with a dismissal decision were re-examined.

Turkish INTEL (MIT) had been communicated

MIT, which had been carrying out security investigations on the TBMM personnel’s relation with FETO and accordingly sending lists of its findings to TBMM, were communicated. In the communications send to MIT and the Police Intelligence Bureau, TBMM asked for MIT’s and the Police Intelligence Bureau’s cooperation, in order to avoid the occurrence of any deficiencies in the files of the dismissed the TBMM personnel or the TBMM personnel on whom there still exists an undergoing dismissal procedure.

The TBMM administration is conducting face-to face interviews in accordance with the reports being prepared by MIT and the Police Intelligence Bureau on the existence of people having links to FETO within the current TBMM personnel.

Inquiry Commission on State of Emergency Measures was established as an appeal mechanism for the public servants dismissed under seventeen emergency decrees, However, the Commission was criticized by the Venice Commission, the European Parliament, and various human rights organization because of lack of independence and impartiality. Turkish Parliament Speaker’s recent undue interference in the appeal process is seen by many as the final nail in the Commission’s long diminishing respectability.

126,000 appeal applications were filed to the Commission, and of those 63.100 have been processed so far. The Commission reinstated 4,750 applicants, and  rejected 58,350 applications.

Categories: Unjust / Wrongful Convictions