And justice for all

The courthouse in Istanbul?s Ça?layan Square is quite an odd architectural masterpiece. It is considered the largest courthouse in Europe. It took years and $250 million to build it, but it only took a couple of hours to destroy its credibility as well as the precious life of a prosecutor.

Two ultra-leftist militants took prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz hostage in the biggest courthouse in Europe. After eight hours of very shady and careless negotiations, the prosecutor, a symbol of justice on behalf of the public, father to a son, husband to a wife who is a judge, was no longer with us. The two young militants from the far-left Revolutionary People?s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) were also killed during the police raid. The result? The Turkish state failed to protect the life of one of its own guarantors of rights and justice.

Sadly, from now on, Berkin Elvan?s murder case will remain in the shadows. The terrorists who took the prosecutor hostage demanded the police officers responsible for Elvan?s death be made public. Prosecutor Kiraz was so deep in the case he had almost indicated the cops responsible. Now, three people are dead and Mr. Kiraz?s files are back in the closet.

?The moral arch of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.? These are the words of Martin Luther King Jr. which are often cited by U.S. President Barack Obama. If you believe justice will be served, time is a small matter indeed. Weeks and months are nothing if your name rings in the hearts and minds of thousands of people longing for fairness and justice. Such was the name of Berkin Elvan, until this week. Such will be the name of prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz from this point on. 

Nowhere on earth are these words truer than in Turkey this week....