Erdogan Ally Discovers 'Good' Jailed Leaders, Just in Time
Al-Monitor reports that Devlet Bahceli, a nationalist party leader and key Erdogan ally, is suddenly suggesting the release of Selahattin Demirtas, the long-imprisoned pro-Kurdish politician. This 'surprise comment' comes from the same individual who, just last year, called for a 'peace process' with the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). (Al-Monitor via Reuters) It's almost as if the
principle of 'justice' for a political opponent is inversely proportional to a government's domestic or international pressures. Bahceli's past 'calls' for peace and his shifting stance on Demirtas merely highlight the transactional nature of political 'mercy' when wielding power. One might ask, how many years of wrongful imprisonment constitute an 'opportunistic' release?