Hot potato

The CHP could not take it any longer and finally dropped it. We do not know for now if it will pick it back up once it cools down, but with a highly significant decision, it refused to play a leading role in the Parliament's theater of legitimizing the terrorist Öcalan, stating that it would not participate in the delegation to visit İmralı.

Naturally, the political scene was stirred up.

Islamists, Kurdish nationalists, and Bahçeli's protégés united and launched a salvo, as if they were all waiting for the CHP to say "we will not go to İmralı" so they could pounce on it.

But it was the Kurdish nationalists whose hopes were truly dashed. 

And quite badly at that.

It would have been so convenient: members of the party that founded the country were to be received in the presence of a terrorist who has the blood of 50,000 people on his hands for the sake of destroying the country. Thus, Öcalan and his masters would have gotten their wish, and the others would have lived happily ever after...

But their plans did not work out as expected.

DEM Party members reacted to this decision by the CHP with flashy sentences, saying, "History will write about those who take responsibility and those who do not; history is made by those who stand on the right side."

So, the unadulterated enemies of the Republic, Islamists, Kurdish nationalists, sects, religious communities, and all sorts of mafia-like organizations embedded within the regime are on the right side of history, while the CHP is on the wrong side...

Is that so!

As Orhan Veli said, forget all that, my dear friend, in one stroke.

The intimidation of the CHP did not come only from the DEM Party members; the terrorist Karayılan also emerged from Kandil to issue his own threats, saying, 'The CHP will suffer from this decision.'

In fact, Özgür Özel had been stalling until the last minute, choosing to remain silent until the situation became critical.

Yet, it was he himself who had laid out the CHP's political position on this issue just at the beginning of last August, telling Özlem Gürses, 'What business do we have in İmralı?'

But after Bahçeli set the tone for the parliamentary commission by saying, 'If no one else goes, I will go to İmralı,' Özel, for reasons unknown, became flustered. It is clear that he found himself in a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation.

Let us state it clearly; because he lacks ideological clarity and a principled stance, he is constantly trying to play the ball as it comes. When he feels he is losing control of the situation, he does not know what to say or do; while yesterday he said, 'We will not go to İmralı,' today he is trying to act according to the pulse of the voters.

Regarding the İmralı issue, they were initially unable to determine what to do. For a week, they waited for the brewing storm to subside, hoping it might pass. But the storm did not die down; instead, it intensified.

Let there be no doubt: if the opposition in our country had not been in an uproar and if the reactions had not reached the heavens, the CHP members would have run to İmralı to appear before Öcalan.

Furthermore, they did not categorically reject the commission meeting with Öcalan; they requested that this meeting be conducted via video conference.

Whether you go to İmralı to engage with Öcalan or sit in front of a screen, it is the same. 

What is the difference, if you are determined to engage with him!

Let us be honest: the CHP has made many mistakes in recent years, but the most serious of these is the policy of trying to appear charming to everyone for the sake of votes. In other words, one face is turned toward Kurdish nationalists, while the other is turned toward the Republican, Kemalist, and social democratic base.

And let us not forget that they also blow kisses to the Islamists in the meantime.

The statements made by party spokespeople regarding the İmralı issue... They are all extremely grave. That sense of embarrassment, guilt, and unease—saying 'We did not want to offend you, but...' and failing to finish the sentence—is like an X-ray of the ideological crisis the CHP is currently experiencing!

How should we interpret Group Deputy Chairman Murat Emir's statement while announcing his party's decision: 'Our nation does not consent to the entire issue being reduced to whether or not to go to İmralı'? It is as if the nation is fine with the rest of it and only objects to the deputies appearing before Öcalan...

On one hand, they say, 'We did not participate due to our principles,' while on the other, they cast a look at DEM saying, 'Don't get us wrong, we are actually with you.'

Supposedly, the CHP's reason for not joining the İmralı delegation was based on principle!

Oh, come on...

If what you call a principle is the founding paradigm of the Republic, it is refined, filtered through the sieve of reason and science, and unshakable in its historicity; it does not change when seeing election polls, nor does it change direction with the winds of social media.

If this decision had been based on principle, Özgür Özel would not have remained silent for days. He would not have brushed it off with vague sentences like, 'We might go, we might not, we'll see.'

Let us write it clearly; this decision is not based on principle; for Özgür Özel, it is based on desperation. Let's call it a reflex, a brake applied in a panic, a door closed at the last minute. The CHP actually took a step back in a panic because it saw the intensity of the reaction coming from its base.

If he had truly internalized the founding philosophy of the Republic and genuinely embraced the principles of the party he leads, he would not have participated in the parliamentary commission, which was clearly established from the very beginning to provide legitimacy to Öcalan.

But he jumped in headfirst.

What kind of political line is this? What kind of strategy is this?

Now, can there be any logic to the approach of "I won't go to İmralı, but I will remain on the commission"?

If anyone understands it, let them come forward.

The real truth is this: CHP voters demonstrate a much more determined and principled stance on issues of critical importance than the CHP itself. It has been seen in this matter that the party's political stance comes from the base, not the leadership.

The base considered the İmralı issue a red line. And it clearly demonstrated its attitude.

Looking from another perspective, this situation tells us that the CHP has been managed for a long time without producing ideas, that it determines its politics only by following the agenda, and that it takes positions according to crises instead of anticipating them in advance.

And that is precisely why the CHP is easily shaken in every crisis and remains insufficient in resolving the question marks in the minds of our people; let us end our article by saying this.