A regional court in Turkey welcomes callers to its switchboard with music used by Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during election campaigns, the Sözcü daily reported on Saturday.
The telephone exchange of the Erzurum Regional Court of Justice plays the “Dombra,” a Turkish nationalist song that was used by then-Prime Minister Erdoğan in his campaign for the March 30, 2014 local elections, when people call the court.
Uğur Işılak, who adapted the “Dombra” for the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) election campaign by replacing the original lyrics with those praising Erdoğan, was elected as a member of parliament from the AKP in the 2015 elections.
Çiğli State Hospital also came to attention after using the “Dombra” as music for its phone exchange.
On the anniversary of a failed coup attempt on July 15, Turkish GSM operators played a 15-second message from President Erdoğan before any calls could commence, including emergency calls.
The message was reported to have been orchestrated by the Turkish Telecommunications Authority (BTK).
“Enough is enough… He confronts you even on the phone… After all those insults [Erdoğan had targeted main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu], this is what… Like a nightmare…” said CHP deputy Aykut Erdoğdu in a tweet posted in reaction to the GSM operators’ Erdoğan message.
GOVERNOR TAKES OFFICE IN RELIGIOUS CEREMONY IN SAKARYA
Amid debates that Turkish state institutions have been taken under control of President Erdoğan’s political Islamist ideology, a new governor of Sakarya province was also welcomed to his office with religious ceremony, according to video shared in intenet. A video, shared by HalkTv on Saturday, has shown that Governor İlhan Balkanlıoğlu was accompanied a group of people chanting religious messages when he took office in Sakarya Governor’s Office.
Praising their resistance during the coup attempt on July 15 last year, Governor asks people whether any of them were injured during coup night. Some of the people seen raising their hands and saying “yes” to confirm.
According to Cumhuriyet daily, the group welcomed Balkanlıoğlu and chanted Islamic slogans in the Governor’s Office was people from İsmailağa group which is know a group close to Erdoğan.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has been continuing a purge, one of the greatest in history of Turkish Republic.
Since July 15, 2016, Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 145,000 people, including judges, teachers, police and civil servants as part of witch hunt targeting people allegedly linked with Gülen movement. On July 14 this year, a total of 7,348 people, including 302 academics, have been dismissed from state institutions by a new government decree, known as a KHK, that went into effect.
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ announced on July 7, 2017 that at least 50,504 people have been arrested and 168,801 are the subject of legal proceedings. (SCF with turkishminute.com) July 23, 2017
