While Turkey was trying to heal the wounds of the February 6 earthquake, it also witnessed new political developments that affected the balance between the government and the opposition on the eve of the -sidential and parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, the government continues to respond to criticisms leveled at its negligence and failure to cope with the devastation and suffering caused by the earthquake. As detailed below, the government imposed new bans aimed at destroying the last remnants of the already severely restricted freedom of expression.The aforementioned development, which could affect the political balances on the eve of the elections, came from the İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener, right after the opposition alliance (Table for Six) announced that they had determined the presidential candidate -which is considered to be CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Akşener is trying to get one of the Istanbul or Ankara Metropolitan Mayors to become the opposition presidential candidate in the hope that she will facilitate her goal of becoming the prime minister in the promised parliamentary system.Since Akşener has no chance to realize this goal after her exit from the Table for Six, she will have to look for a new strategy that will bring her and her party to an advantage in the coming weeks. Although it is not clear for now how this move of the İYİ Party will affect the general political landscape and the balance between the ruling bloc and the opposition, it can be predicted that Turkish politics is open for new developments in the coming days.Meanwhile, the bans on some religious publications, which are among the government's pressures on freedom of expression mentioned at the beginning, have also led to new doubts about the nature of the regime in Turkey. As a matter of fact, upon the request of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (DİB), the prevention and seizure of the translation of the Qur'an written by a theologian on the grounds that it violates the basic principles of the religion of Islam is a heavy pressure on freedom of expression, as well as a constitutional violation of the Republic of Turkey. This move by the government also contradicts the principle of secularism. Moreover, it would not be surprising to encounter such prohibitions in the future as long as this legislation remains in force.We learned from this last incident that the AKP government, by making an addition to the founding Law of the DIB with a decree in 2018, granted this institution a monopolistic authority to determine the meaning and interpretation of the Qur'an. This situation, in one aspect, means that Islam has become almost the established religion, and in another aspect, the Presidency of Religious Affairs has been given a church-like status.While all of this is going on, the avalanche of problems caused by the AKP government that have deepened and led to a crisis of political legitimacy remains on the agenda.&nbsp;These include the economic crisis that is racing to the bottom, severe degradation of the law, justice, and fundamental freedoms, and the state’s - and the government - &nbsp;maintaining its security-oriented approach to the Kurdish problem. All these problems together with the DİB’s monopoly over the interpretation of Islam that is in clear violation of secularism and human rights, and those related to the reconstruction and urban transformation caused by the earthquake, await the new government and parliament that will be formed after the elections.Stay tuned, and see you in the next issue.

February 6 earthquake ile ilgili hikayeler