Turkish police fire tear gas on May day protesters, 2014. Demotix/ yenta kurtcebe. All rights reserved.What sense does one make of the term public order? National will? Terrorist organization? The answer is that it all depends on who uses it these days.
When, for example, members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) propose a domestic security bill that aims to secure public order against plots devised by terrorist organizations, and argue that the bill reflects the national will, the meanings of these terms become problematic for some in Turkey, who are certainly having a hard time fitting into the “national” in national will.
That some, however, represents approximately half of the constituents. That is the “other 50%” of “AKP’s 50%”. Mathematically speaking, halves represent equal shares. Politically speaking the balance in Turkey is highly skewed. Simply put, the laws that the AKP make on behalf of one half come at the expense of the other. Hence we witness protestors on the streets demanding fair treatment. With the new bill, however, the AKP says, No more!
