CHP deputy chairman: 'Turkey is experiencing its darkest period, nearing final stage of dictatorship'

CHP deputy chairman: 'Islamist' Turkey is experiencing its darkest period, nearing final stage of dictatorship. (TodaysZaman).

CHP deputy chairman: Turkey nearing final stage of dictatorshipMain opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) parliamentary group deputy chairman Levent Gök has warned that Turkey is moving toward a very dark future, saying that Turkey is about to reach the final stage of dictatorship.

Gök said Turkey is nearly in the final stages of dictatorship, adding that this final stage is a process that is being dragged into conflict deliberately.Stating that freedoms are not cheap, as people risk their lives to acquire them, Gök said: “It seems that Turkey will continue to pay the price for this. Turkey is in a very dark stage,” adding that Turkey is experiencing a period during which a government which used democracy to come to power is declaring its dictatorship.

Gök, who said everyone has the responsibility to prevent the formation of a dictatorship, added: “We are in a period in which the [Justice and Development Party] AK Party is trying to construct its own judiciary, police force and armed forces using laws. If this period is not stopped in the 2015 elections, Turkish democracy will suffer severe damage.”

Saying that the government is trying to silence democrats, Gök asked the audience to protect and support artists and intellectuals who attended the ceremony at Cologne University.

Referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent trip to Africa and his efforts to push African countries to close Turkish schools affiliated with the Gülen movement, Gök stated that a president should know his place, and that his responsibility is symbolic. “I believe that the public conscience will rise against corruption and pressure and will teach the AK Party a lesson to [in this year's elections].”

Also speaking at the event was a columnist for the Cumhuriyet daily, Can Dündar, who said that he, as a journalist, is walking in a minefield in Turkey. “Today, it is forbidden to call a thief a thief in Turkey. However, there is corruption on a grand scale. We all see this. The voice of a person who cries ‘There is a thief!' is being silenced. The prosecutors who say [there is corruption] and police officers who capture [the thieves] are being detained. The journalists who write about this [corruption] are intimidated by lawsuits. Gag orders are being issued to silence the media and event Parliament is being silenced.”

CHP deputy Durdu Özbolat also said recently that Turkey is experiencing its darkest period, and that the government is redesigning Turkey, including its universities, judiciary, army, media and even business world, in order to remove the basic values of the Turkish Republic. Hmmm.......Remember Erdogan feels at home in Iran. Read the full story here.