Those who say 'I'd rather die than leave my seat' and Atatürk

There is an election in America this coming November. It is not yet finalized, but two candidates have emerged: one is the Democrat incumbent, 81-year-old Biden, and the other is the Republican former president, 76-year-old Trump.

However, President Joe Biden has been openly showing signs of dementia for months; he has reached a point where he is now the subject of ridicule every day due to his mistakes, and he is trailing far behind Trump in the polls.

If he were to say 'I will not be a candidate,' the Democrats could put forward a young and dynamic candidate against Trump and perhaps win the election, but unfortunately, the gentleman keeps saying 'I will not withdraw, I will not withdraw.'

A similar event took place in Turkey last year. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu did not give up his candidacy and was defeated by a small margin against Erdoğan; as you know, pollsters say, 'Whether it had been Ekrem İmamoğlu or Mansur Yavaş instead of Kılıçdaroğlu, they would have won.'

The obsession with 'holding onto the seat until death,' especially among politicians in underdeveloped countries like Turkey, never fades; now we are witnessing that it is not much different in America.

They lose elections and do not leave, they cannot walk and do not leave, they cannot speak and do not leave; one of the most striking examples of this, unfortunately, was Bülent Ecevit. Because he did not leave in time, he was mocked and tarnished his own reputation, going down in history in a way he did not deserve.

Sitting on the throne until death happens in monarchies, not in republics, and that usually ends up turning those who cling to the throne until the last moment into clowns.

The right thing to do is to leave in time; especially in a healthy democracy, age is not even considered, and whoever loses the first election should leave so that the newcomer can bring something new to the table and win the election.

This issue also came up for Atatürk, who founded the Republic of Turkey; it was proposed that he be elected President for life. Atatürk had the power to make the necessary legal changes for this; everything depended on a single sign from him.

In 1930, when his comrade-in-arms Fethi Okyar was founding the opposition party, the Liberal Republican Party (Serbest Fırka), it became a topic in the media that he had proposed to Atatürk that he "remain President for life." Upon this, journalists asked Atatürk the following question:

"If you were to receive such a proposal, what would your reaction be?"

Mustafa Kemal's response was very clear:

"There have been many who have made this and similar proposals to me for a long time. You and the public should know that proposals of this nature have not pleased me, and they never will!"

Doesn't this answer alone explain the greatness of Atatürk?

But you might say, where is Atatürk, and where are these people?