Young Turks

Before putting the text I had in mind into writing, I reviewed the titles of my previous articles sent to 12Punto. 

“Trust in the judiciary, This is exactly what the State is, The Constitution and concepts” were the titles of articles where I tried to express that the most important concepts upon which a state is built are justice, law, and rules that have continuity. We should not think of this only as state-law; individuals also expect their sense of justice to be satisfied in their own lives.  In the family, at school, in business life, and even in friendships, the fundamental expectation is an equal and/or fair approach. 

When the sense of justice is damaged, the emotion that emerges is first anger. Justice should not be considered merely a legal concept; the distribution of wealth, equality of opportunity, and freedom of self-expression should also be considered within this scope.

On the morning of Wednesday, March 19, the judicial process began with detention operations, followed by arrests and other measures against mayors and other individuals. Since there is not much benefit in talking about it anymore, I do not want to discuss the compliance of the actions taken with the law and procedure. I believe that instead of loyalty to the letter, purpose, or legal principles of the law, there was a desire to gain political benefit from the actions. 

The main reason behind the events we have been experiencing for about 10 days, and especially the great reaction given by the youth, is not a reaction to this judicial process. 

I believe that anger at the economic and social situation we are in is the biggest reason behind the protests. 

I am of the opinion that labeling the reaction on the streets as “İmamoğlu protests” would not be an accurate definition. Explaining what is happening in this way can only be for two reasons: either failing to grasp what is going on or trying to hide the real reasons for the reaction.  

To understand the spirit of the protest actions, we need to look at who is on the streets and what they are saying. Young people are on the streets. Student/employed/unemployed youth are taking action. Of course, there are citizens from different age groups as well, but the locomotive of the actions is the youth. 

The young people have our flag, the Turkish flag, in their hands. Most of the flags feature Mustafa Kemal with a kalpak. The young people, who are claimed to be uninterested in politics, do not just have flags and Atatürk in their hands. They are carrying placards featuring Doğan Avcıoğlu and portraits of the Committee of Union and Progress (İTC) leaders Enver, Talat, and Cemal. The secular nationalist youth behind the rise of the Victory Party (Zafer Partisi) are also on the streets. In addition to those carrying these symbols in the squares, there are communists who are present in an organized and disciplined manner. Viewing the crowd entirely as CHP supporters is extremely erroneous. It would be useful to consider this as data for those who want to understand what the underlying wave is.

It would not be out of place to say that there is an explosion of anger caused by the high cost of living, unemployment, and perhaps most importantly, anxiety about the future and hopelessness. It should be seen as extremely natural for an explosion to occur in days when the minimum wage is the average wage, and even healthy nutrition and housing have become difficult.

Those who think the system is clogged turn to progressive movements and leaders of the past to build the future. They commemorate the periods they see as the “good old days.” 

The ethnic nationalist-separatist groups, whom I am glad are not on the streets and who undermine every rightful protest, are not participating in the actions. Those who act like strike-breakers and make the legitimacy of rightful protests questionable to large segments of society are today at a horse-trading table elsewhere. They are busy offering mutual well-wishes for the health of those they have formed an alliance with.

Another point that caught my attention regarding the actions is that there has been no fighting among the participants. The 2007 Republic Rallies were experienced in a similar way. Millions of people gathered and carried out their actions without the slightest disturbance or fight. These people, who worry about the country and protest, are promising in terms of the quality and quantity of the human resources we have to build the future.

Just as the issue was not about trees and parks during the 2013 Gezi events, it is not about mayors today either. The anger of society is like water; when it is about to overflow, it finds its way. 

Happy Eid al-Fitr.