The freedom to say 'yes?'

The Turkish government has stripped the Supreme Election Board (YSK) of the authority to give penalties to TV and radio stations that air one-sided broadcasts or biased propaganda during election periods, according to a decree issued on Feb. 9 ahead of the referendum which is likely to be carried out on April 16.

The decree was issued as part of a state of emergency that was declared after the foiled coup attempt of July 15, 2016, so as to better conduct the struggle against terrorism. The referendum is not related to the struggle against terrorism but over a constitutional change for a shift from a parliamentarian system to an executive presidential one as targeted by President Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti). 

"With this new regulation," reacted Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the social democratic opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), on Twitter, "Only their voices will be heard until the referendum; only one side will be able make free broadcasts." The CHP sources said the decree was against the principles of "fairness" and "equality" in the constitution.

Actually, the decree doesn't say that it is free to support the approval of the constitution but illegal to stand against it; there is no expression in the decree that a "yes" will be favored over a "no." But in today's Turkey, everyone can draw his or her own conclusions. We are talking about an atmosphere where Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said numerous times that by saying "no," the CHP is on the same side as terrorist organizations like the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the "Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ)," the secret network of the U.S.-resident Islamist preacher Fethullah Gülen, as they are also against...