ISTANBUL, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is facing an array of challenges as the country is marking the first anniversary of a bloody coup attempt, with many grappling with a sense of injustice.
For one, polarization in society, that between the sympathizers of the ruling party and supporters of the opposition in particular, is a major issue which cannot take for granted.
In the view of Temel Karamollaoglu, leader of the Felicity Party (SP), polarization should be urgently eliminated, as peace could only be achieved in this way in a country.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has often been criticized for adopting a polarizing discourse to keep up its voters.
Meanwhile, the scourge of terrorism continues to haunt the country, as the government reported lately 14 major attacks carried out by the Islamic State in recent years that claimed 304 lives altogether.
The fear is lingering as the militant group is suffering a defeat in neighboring Iraq and Syria, while Ankara's battle against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party has been raging on.
Many also fear Turkey's economy may face a crisis if it fails to attract substantial amounts of hot money from abroad, as the inflation and unemployment rates have been over 10 percent for many months.
No much good news for Ankara on the foreign policy front either.
Turkey has strained ties with many of the countries in its surrounding region, including with the European Union which it once strived to join and some of its members. Relations with the United States are in trouble as well.
"Israel has now emerged as our biggest ally (in the region). This is not acceptable," Karamollaoglu said early this week in his broadside against the AKP's foreign policy.
What is more, complaints are growing in Turkey about a failing justice system and rule of law under an emergency rule imposed five days after the putsch on the night of July 15 last year.
The government is continuing unabated its fight against the network suspected to be behind the coup bid, once known as the Gulen movement but labeled since by Ankara as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO) led by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in the U.S. but being sought hard by Ankara for extradition.
The government has been under fire, both at home and abroad, for having done away with the rule of law in its post-coup crackdown, as tens of thousands of civil servants, professors and others were dismissed form their posts simply under statutory decrees.
More than 50,000 people, among them civil servants, police officers, military personnel, journalists and businessmen, have been arrested for alleged involvement in the coup or links with the FETO.
"The rule of law in Turkey has been dealt a serious blow under the emergency rule," Gokhan Gunaydin, a former lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), told Xinhua.
Noting that thousands of public servants were removed without even being allowed to defend themselves, he said, "The future of Turkey does not look bright given that the judicial independence and the separation of powers have been hugely damaged."
Critics say the fight against those who were part of the coup plot is legitimate, but that it should be conducted within the rule of law.
"After the emergency rule was introduced, Turkey has been dragged even further away from the rule of law," Yusuf Halacoglu, an independent lawmaker, told Xinhua.
The confidence in the judiciary is less than 30 percent among the Turkish public, underlined Halacoglu, once a leading figure from the opposition Nationalist Movement Party.
"Eighty-six percent of the people do not trust the judiciary," SP leader Karamollaoglu stated, saying if prosecutors and judges are afraid of launching a legal process against a member of the ruling party, then it is not possible to talk about justice.
The AKP has been criticized for eliminating judicial independence by imposing a tight control over the judiciary, in particular after the country narrowly voted in April in favor of a switch to an executive presidency, a development seen by many as greatly weakening Parliament, eliminating checks and balances and leading to a one-man rule.
The main opposition CHP described the constitutional amendments as illegitimate, accusing Turkey's top election watchdog of violating the election law in the count of votes in the April 16 referendum.
Numerous calls by the opposition for the state of emergency to be lifted have been rejected so far by the AKP on the grounds that it is needed to fight more effectively against terror groups.
The CHP has often accused the Islamist AKP of having carried out a "civilian coup" by exploiting the state of emergency to settle accounts with the secular Turkish Republic.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is also the head of the AKP, unexpectedly said Wednesday that the emergency rule may be lifted in the not too distant future.
CHP spokesman Bulent Tezcan accused the AKP the same day of using the emergency rule not to settle accounts with those involved in the coup attempt, but rather to prevent the political leg of the plot from being disclosed.
No high-level politician has been arrested so far in relation to the coup plot. "I'm disturbed that the political leg of the coup has not been unearthed," said Halacoglu.
Stressing it is not possible to genuinely fight a coup attempt unless its political wing is also eliminated, he added, "Parliament should have seriously looked into the coup and share its findings with the public."
The Turkish parliament established a commission to investigate the attempted coup, but failed to call two important persons -- the head of the country's intelligence agency and the chief of the General Staff -- to answer questions before its members.
That has further raised doubts about the government's willingness to shed light on the plot, argued Gunaydin.
Erdogan said he got wind of the attempt through his brother-in-law, while Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said he was informed about the coup by friends. Neither of them appeared before the parliamentary commission.
The term of the commission, headed by an AKP deputy, was not extended despite the opposition's demand.
It is widely claimed that the government was informed about the coup bid beforehand, but opted deliberately not to take necessary measures to block it. For the CHP, it was a "controlled coup."
The main opposition party launched in mid-June what it called a "March for Justice," that extended from Ankara, the nation's capital, to Istanbul stretching about 450 km, in protest against encroachment of the rule of law and injustices suffered by various groups in society.
CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu led the march by holding a banner that read "Justice," and the march culminated in a mass rally in Istanbul on Sunday.
The 68-year-old has vowed many times to continue the protests in various forms until justice is done in the country.
Adding to the sense of injustice, the AKP has often been accused of not allowing the judicial investigations into suspected FETO members to be conducted in a fair way. Many in the opposition allege that there must be Gulen sympathizers within the AKP, a claim denied by the ruling party.
Until December 2013 when two graft probes became public, the AKP and the Gulen movement had excellent ties.
Leading AKP figures continued to boastingly talk about the movement until the corruption probes were unveiled, which the ruling party described as an attemp to overthrow the government.
Leading figures among Gulen sympathizers should have faced legal investigations as well, argued Hallacoglu.
"This is a big injustice and causes discontent in society," he said.
Many people with no proved links to the Gulen movement were dismissed as well from public service, while some of them were even arrested.
Many privates and military school students are currently in prison for being part of the failed coup, though the opposition argues that they must not be held responsible for simply standing guard on a street during the coup attempt, as they had to act under instructions by their commanders.
"If an important portion of a society agrees that the state does not act in a fair way, this is a bad indication for that state," said Halacoglu.
Nuriye Gulmen and Semih Ozakca, two teachers who were dismissed by a statutory decree, went on a hunger strike in March. They were arrested on the 76th day of their move over charges of being a member of a left-wing terror group.
About 200,000 people are estimated to be directly influenced by the post-coup clampdown, and they may be representing nearly 2 million people when their families and relatives are taken into consideration.
Some fear the unfair treatment suffered by the people could backfire in the future and pose a risk for the country.
Common people victimized in the crackdown have started to nurse a grudge against the country, Aykut Erdogdu, a CHP lawmaker, cautioned on Halk TV on Tuesday.
