Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, the deputy group leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, accused Turkey’s Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç of misusing his power to manipulate the judiciary, specifically aiming to shut down the DEM Party, and compared his actions to those of Nazi propagandist Goebbels. She criticised the Justice Minister for his alleged failure to uphold justice and accused him of orchestrating a political trial against the DEM Party.
In her speech, Koçyiğit expressed deep concerns about the independence of the Turkish judiciary and the erosion of democratic norms, suggesting that the Justice Minister is trying to control the Constitutional Court to serve the interests of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). She implored, “Cease immediately from ordering the judiciary to prosecute our party, from giving commands to the Constitutional Court,” highlighting the gravity of the situation.
Koçyiğit accused the Justice Minister of being inactive in the face of “all the lawlessness, distortions, and decay in the judiciary,” stating, “He has apparently become the AKP’s new Goebbels”. She elaborated on the flawed nature of the accusations against her party, saying, “They have not mastered even the creation of a sham file. A plot, at least, has some intelligence, but here we see a complete blackout of reason, prepared with vengeance and political motives.”
Challenging the minister’s silence on European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings, she asked, “Why don’t you speak about the violation rulings given by the ECHR concerning many allegations related to the closure case?” She added that no credible legal discourse could be expected from him as “not a single sentence on behalf of justice comes out of the minister’s mouth”.
Turning to the economy, Koçyiğit provided a grim outlook, remarking on the overwhelming debt burden shouldered by Turkish citizens from birth: “Every child is born approximately 2 million TL in debt. It’s astonishing and disgraceful.” She criticised the Finance Minister’s nonchalant attitude towards the spiralling national debt and economic mismanagement, saying, “The Minister of Finance says there’s nothing exaggerated about the national debt. We’re at a loss for words. It’s a contemptuous dismissal of the intellect of millions of workers, the poor, pensioners, and women in this country.”
Koçyiğit also highlighted the broader implications of government policies, asserting, “While people can barely find bus fares and children go to school hungry, who is responsible for all this, if not the current government?” She questioned the government’s frantic search for funds, saying, “Why are you racing around the world? Because you’re desperately seeking money due to Turkey’s severe liquidity crisis.”
The DEM Party leader further underlined the consequences of these economic strategies: “If there’s really nothing exaggerated about the budget deficit, why are you imposing new taxes on the backs of the people?” She blamed the Kurdish hostility and policies favouring capital interests as the real causes of Turkey’s “severe inflation and increasing poverty”. She strongly criticised the Turkish government’s war expenditures, noting, “The real cause of our severe inflation and increasing poverty is the ongoing war expenditures fuelled by Kurdish hostility and policies that favour capital interests.” Koçyiğit argued that these unnecessary and aggressive policies not only drained the country’s resources but also exacerbated the economic struggles of everyday citizens.
