The liquidation of ideologies

When principles and ideologies are replaced by cronyism and rent-seeking, belonging to different parties loses its meaning. This is exactly what is happening in our country today. We are rapidly evolving toward a period where multi-party life continues in form, but a single-party mentality prevails in substance.

When we look at the members of parliament and mayors of parties in recent years, we see that they have almost no connection to the parties they were elected from. We even witness some individuals stepping into their party's headquarters or local organizations for the first time only after being elected. Even more dire is the fact that people who have spent their lives fighting against the very party they now represent suddenly become the "influential and authorized" cadres of that party.

The authority obtained through elections is not used to serve the public, but to hand over the taxes we pay with great sacrifice to rent-seeking groups clustered around them. It does not stop there; corruption, nepotism, and lawlessness are practically normalized. Even if the party badge changes, the mentality does not. That is why the country is effectively governed by a single-party mindset.

People who have dedicated their lives to their party and paid the price; individuals who love their country, are well-educated, and competent in their fields have no value. In fact, quite the opposite is often true: these qualities are seen as a "danger." A person who thinks, questions, and possesses merit is considered a risk to the party; they are not brought in, and they are not given tasks. Indeed, this has been the practice for years.

We are facing such a state of decay that even if you are attacked on behalf of your party and face death, your leader might choose to visit the person who carried out the attack to offer their well-wishes instead of saying get well soon to you. It is power, not principle; interest, not justice, that is protected.

Today, there is no ideological difference between parties in the country. There is no point in citizens belonging to different parties and harboring hostility toward one another. Because the elected mayors and members of parliament can easily "transfer" from the parties they happened to win with to other parties in a short time. The public is either indifferent to this or satisfied with this order.

I am making a clear call here:

If you truly have no difference, all parties should merge.

Because the fundamental criterion that distinguishes one party from another is ideological difference. You differentiate yourself by what you think about national income, development, planning, retirement, employment, taxes, the budget, justice, human rights, earthquake policies, fires, murders, debt, income distribution, unionization, agriculture, farmers, exports, imports, corruption, and public administration. If there is no difference on these topics, there is no meaning in being separate parties.

The only remedy to end this state of resemblance is the path of Mustafa Kemal.

It is the Third Way.

This path is the path of modernity, justice, fair and public distribution, and a humane life. It is the path of true pluralism against the single-party mentality, and of democracy not just in form, but in thought.