The unchanging realities of Turkey from its foundation to the present

The writer and academic Hıfzı Veldet Velidedeoğlu, whom we lost in 1992, was like a living history who had witnessed the Republic of Turkey from its foundation to the present day. At just 15 years old, he served as an official in the First Grand National Assembly (1920) and witnessed the debates even before the Republic was established firsthand. The author later turned this period he lived through into a book titled "The First Assembly / Anatolia in the National Struggle." In this book, Velidedeoğlu also included some striking information. For example, he did not attend the 50th-anniversary events of the Assembly because he was protesting Celal Bayar. Because, according to Velidedeoğlu, Bayar had "made concession after concession regarding the revolutions carried out by Atatürk." Moreover, he had conveyed his criticisms regarding that period to the Speaker of the Assembly in a written text.

In the book we mentioned, the author also shared with his readers the facts that had not changed in Turkey by the 1970s and 1990s. According to this, "The life of the masses had not changed." Once again, large masses were trying to continue their lives in poverty and misery, and millions of people were struggling to even meet their basic needs. In the lines he penned in 1970, the author expresses this situation as follows: "...In all these travels and contacts, I always see that the people are still the same people, the clothing is still the same clothing, the woman is still the same captive woman. With the exception of a very small number of regions, people are still undernourished, the same pale faces; in the forests, the same goats, the same destruction, the same shepherds carrying wool cloaks on their shoulders. In short, the great masses, with their women, men, elderly, and young, are all similar to the masses of half a century ago."

Well, is there no wealth and, likewise, no wealthy people in those years? Of course, there is. That is exactly how capitalism works. On one side, mountains of accumulated wealth, and on the other, millions of poor people... The system simultaneously keeps these two irreconcilable contradictions alive. Returning to Velidedeoğlu, the author expresses this situation regarding those days as follows: "Concentrated urban wealth, in the face of the current general situation of the Turkish masses, is not a monument to be proud of—as I said in this book about the Bulgar Palas of the First World War—but rather shameful documents and evidence. Not even a thousandth of the limited public works and comfort of the big cities has gone to the villages. In contrast, the entirety of village poverty has surrounded the outskirts of the big cities. Low-income city children and families are also forced to move one by one into shantytowns, which are the shelter areas of this village misery due to poverty, and thus a circle of misery that grows in rings surrounds the wealth at the center."

The fact that most clearly reveals the reality of the capitalist system is inequality of opportunity. The neighborhoods, districts, and even the houses we are born into tell this truth. While the best schools, the best conditions, and opportunities are offered to some in those houses, millions of children live deprived of these opportunities. Let alone opportunities, they cannot even go to schools, remaining deprived of the means to develop their talents, and can only manage to survive. Velidedeoğlu also draws attention to this situation in his book, stating that "equality of opportunity could not be established," and continues his words as follows: "During the three-and-a-half-year National Struggle period and afterwards, I saw that many people I thought were 'great' were in reality 'small,' and conversely, many 'small' gems with the potential to be great in our Turkey were extinguished. I look at the half-century that has passed since 1920, and at the socially, culturally, and economically unchanged face of the current masses, and I say to myself, 'If equality of opportunity had been provided in this country and those small gems could have taken part in the administration of the country, how Turkey would have risen.'"

What Velidedeoğlu said in the early nineties is not much different from these words. The author only adds the concessions made on the basis of secularism and the problems of democracy to these criticisms in the years we mentioned. These words belong to him: "Democracy could not be placed on its contemporary path; freedom of thought could not be secured; moreover, it has received many wounds since 1970, especially regarding secularism, which is the fundamental principle of the Republic of Turkey."

Let us come to the present day.

According to the TUIK (Turkish Statistical Institute) Income and Living Conditions Survey, at least 17 million 821 thousand citizens in Turkey are so poor that they cannot even meet their most basic needs. This means a quarter of the population. We are talking about the most basic needs. On the other hand, the poverty line has increased exactly 12 times compared to 2014. The poverty line, which was 6 thousand 665 liras in 2014, rose to 81 thousand 742 liras in 2024. You know what this means! The country is living in poverty with its retirees, minimum wage earners, civil servants, and millions of employees. It is not us saying this, but the state's official data. The same data also clearly declares that the minimum wage and pension are below the hunger threshold.

Look, we are not talking about three or five years, but a whole century. For a hundred years, equality of opportunity, access to rights, and the possibility of a dignified life for everyone have not been provided in this country. People are still poor, still continuing their lives in great desperation. Then one must ask: Did we establish the Republic for certain elites, the wealthy, and capitalists? Was all that fighting done for this, and did thousands of people sacrifice their lives for this?