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| Europe | |
| Gul supports civil hearings for army staff | |
| 2009-07-11 | |
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Turkish President Abdullah Gul has commended a new law which paves the ground for the referral of certain military offenses to civil courts.
Gul giving the green light to the law has however been greeted with stiff opposition from other political powerhouses, vowing to fight the legislation. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Spokesman Mustafa Ozyurek, criticized Gul saying that he simply lost the opportunity to represent Turkey as a president and in its place preferred to be the head of his own ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). This is while the CHP Deputy Chairman Onur Oymen also slammed the Turkish President's move. "The president's approval was the wrong decision. We will apply to the top court as soon as possible to annul the law, which is technically flawed and unconstitutional," he commented. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also declared that it would challenge what it called the divisive new law in court. "Gul justified the criticism that he is not objective and neutral by approving the law," MHP Deputy Chairman Cihan Pacaci said. Meanwhile, President Abdullah Gul has called upon the lawmakers in Ankara to offer amendments to the bill in a bid to alleviate Turkey's General Staff's concerns. The General Staff assumes the law as 'unconstitutional' and states that it would undeniably bring about disputes between military and civilian prosecutors. However, a statement issued by the presidential office on Wednesday said that "the law is in line with requirements for Turkey's bid to join the European Union and Gul believes the law to be compatible with the existing law on military courts. However, it will be beneficial to undertake legal arrangements without delay to dismiss concerns on legal guarantees and discipline of military service that might arise during its implementation." | |
| Posted by:Fred |