A firm warning to those claiming to remain above parties

The research company ASAL released a poll this week asking, "Who would you vote for if an election were held this Sunday?" Those who are undecided or stated they would not vote are in the lead by a wide margin at 36.7 percent. The CHP is in second place with 20 percent, and the AKP is in third with 18.7 percent... I will share the full poll results at the end of this article.  This election poll,  should be perceived as a major message to Atatürk Revolutionaries who are wholeheartedly devoted to Atatürk, and to all patriots who define themselves politically as center, right, or left.

It is not working with the CHP, and it is not working by saying let us remain above parties, let us remain above politics, or let us work as an NGO. Everyone must accept that a change in government happens through elections.  

Turkey is on the verge of a major breaking point. First Iraq, then Syria, and now, within the scope of the Greater Middle East Project, it is Turkey's turn. A carrot is being dangled in front of Turkey. "Let an autonomous Kurdistan region be established. Let these regions in Iraq and Syria unite, and let Turkey be the guarantor of this federation."

With this proposal, which will bring an end to the nation-state, Turkey will first be made to appear as if it is growing through this federation. However, a significant portion of Turkey's territory and its water resources will be in the next stage  will be torn away.

Because Turkey is a NATO member, they want to resolve this stage of the Greater Middle East Project (BOP) without war. The latest opening process demonstrates this. With the cooperation of the AKP, MHP, and DEM, and the political Islamist deputies that Kılıçdaroğlu brought into parliament, they have the opportunity to amend the constitution without putting it to a referendum. If they cannot do it, civil war scenarios are ready to be activated. 

It is possible to create a major environment of chaos at any moment with the jihadist terrorists among the 10 million refugees whose numbers we cannot even track, and the more than 400,000 Afghan-origin individuals with American military training. Due to long-standing policies, society is also divided among itself along ethnic and religious lines. When walking down the street, no one greets anyone. The slightest argument in traffic ends in injury or murder.  

Let us recall the report that CIA Turkey station chief Paul Henze wrote to the State Department in 2006.

“When we convince the government, we face the Parliament. When we convince the Parliament, we face the military; when we convince the military, we face the judiciary... Therefore, for America's interests, Turkey must transition to a presidential system and a federal system that will neutralize the power of the parliament, the military, and the judiciary. It is easy to convince a single man. If we cannot convince him, we saw in the Saddam example how he is neutralized!”

The plan is working, and for Turkey to be saved from this plan, it must first get rid of this government. Under a heavy bombardment of propaganda, society may not have an idea about the country's survival problem. 

But the problem is not just this. Turkey is in a state of multiple institutional collapse. There is no rule of law. The economy exists only for the prosperity of a handful of people. Nearly 80 percent of the population loses income level every year. 10 percent continues to get richer. If things continue this way, 10 percent will reach the poverty line in a short time.  80 percent are below the poverty line. About 50 percent of the population is below the hunger threshold. A severe state of misery prevails. Retirees, low-income earners, workers, farmers, tradesmen, students,  are aware that their prosperity is being taken from them and transferred to AKP supporters and refugees. Healthcare and education services are only available to those who can afford them.  

THERE IS NO OPPOSITION THAT ONLY ACTS WHEN THEY ARE PERSONALLY AFFECTED

Despite the deep poverty in the economy, the rampant corruption and plunder, and the lawlessness, the CHP is unable to convince the voters.  The CHP is failing to provide opposition and integrate with the electorate. While the masses of voters were groaning under economic misery, and the AKP and its loyal high judiciary were conducting a fraudulent referendum that changed the regime, we did not witness effective opposition or protests from the CHP. To use the expression the late Süleyman Demirel used during his time in opposition, “Bringing the sky down upon their heads” we did not encounter such actions.  

Until today, they have only held protests and rallies for the injustices committed against themselves. When the Supreme Election Council (YSK) counted invalid votes as valid and the regime changed, they did not walk the 2 kilometers from the party headquarters to the front of the YSK building, nor did they hold a sit-in protest in front of the building with a million people until the decision was overturned. However, two weeks later, following the arrest of MP Enis Berberoğlu, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu walked 400 kilometers from Ankara to Istanbul. Yet, if he had walked those 2 kilometers and resisted in front of the YSK until the decision was withdrawn, the regime would have been saved. They also gather and protest when the mayors of Esenyurt and Beşiktaş are arrested. But calling young people and unions to Taksim Square on May 1st, only to then hold a press statement in front of a police barricade in Saraçhane and leave them to face police violence, also gives an idea about their own capacity and ability for effective opposition.

That is why, while the undecided voters rise to 36 percent, CHP votes remain at 20 percent. At election time, most of the undecided voters reluctantly vote for the CHP. But it cannot generate a hope for power in society.

The election poll clearly demonstrates that intellectuals with public support, scientists, politicians who have truly served this country in the past and have since retired, as well as officers and diplomats who were well-trained in fields such as defense, foreign policy, and geopolitics but were forced into early retirement through conspiracy cases, must enter politics. 

I will not name names, but there are many intellectuals I know closely and whose opinions I value highly. Almost all of them are waiting for word from the CHP to enter politics. Some, as in the last election, paid 70,000 liras each to apply as candidate nominees. The CHP did not place any of them in a winnable position, nor did they even include them on the lists. They occasionally bring a few well-trained individuals into parliament, but those individuals have no influence in determining the party's policies; they merely remain as window dressing. 

Atatürkists and patriots must re-examine their “let us remain above politics, let us remain above parties”

attitudes. I call upon Turkey's patriotic intellectuals to join and engage in politics within a party—whether center, center-right, or center-left—wherever they position themselves, such as the True Party, Homeland Party, Justice Party, Left Party, Republican Patriots Party, or Victory Party. The common feature of these parties is that they remain outside of parliament and have declared their commitment to the first six articles of the Constitution. Each party can maintain its own legal identity. While they may not agree on all of the country's problems, there are issues on which an agreement can be reached regarding urgent matters. 

A secular and nation-state-based unitary Republic, a return to the Parliamentary System, the independence of the judiciary, the right to quality and free healthcare and education for everyone, a return to self-sufficient, healthy, and secure agriculture, an end to the order of plunder in the economy, a fair distribution model in the economy, and a merit-based public administration... 

It is not difficult to sit down and reach an agreement on these. Furthermore, the formation of an alliance between intellectuals with public support and trained human resources alongside these parties currently outside of parliament will provide a new hope for young people who have lost theirs, and will serve as a guide for them to enter politics as well.

OPPOSITION ALLIANCE AND UNITY OF ACTION

The government's arrest of CHP mayors and the appointment of trustees to replace some of them, along with the President changing his “The big radish is in the bag” saying to “The biggest of the radishes is in the bag” signals that the operations will continue to expand and that the turn will eventually come to Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Naturally, the CHP is taking action as it always does when it is the subject, but this time they seem to have realized the magnitude of the danger. Both CHP Chairman Özgür Özel and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu called for support from all segments of society at the rally in front of the Beşiktaş Municipality. The message they gave was as follows:

“Whatever we are going to do in the face of these operations, we will do it all together, as a nation. This issue has now ceased to be solely a problem for the CHP. Those who see this only as a problem for our mayors will find it happening to themselves tomorrow, and to members of parliament who have immunity. Artists, athletes, the business world—it will happen to you tomorrow, too. This mindset will seize your assets. I am calling out to the business world: it will happen to you as well. Either we will wait and it will happen to all of us, or we will fight together. They have taken away the rights of a person elected by 16 million people. There is no salvation alone; it is either all of us together or none of us.”

For more than three years, Doğru Party Chairman Rifat Serdaroğlu has been saying these things that İmamoğlu has said to the former chairman of the CHP, the new chairman, the elected metropolitan mayors, and business people alike. He has done so through face-to-face meetings with some, phone calls with others, and frequent open calls on television... 

 “You are the main opposition. Come, let us take action together within democratic rules. I and my former colleagues who are over 60 and have left politics will walk at the very front. If the police are going to use batons, let them come and use them on us, not on the youth or women. Expose every single tender and zoning corruption committed by the AKP mayors before you. One day, a prosecutor will remove you from your position with a secret witness.”

They remained indifferent to these calls for unity of action and warnings; they did not even respond. However, it is not too late. Turkey is in the process of forming a salvation alliance without the CHP.  As the main opposition party, without straying from the founding values of the republic as was the case with the Table of Six,  the CHP's “come and follow me” style is not,  It is in Turkey's interest to lead a strong opposition alliance that adopts the first six articles of the constitution and promises economic prosperity, rule of law, democracy, and freedom. 

A WORD FOR BUSINESSPEOPLE AS WELL...

İmamoğlu's words directed at businesspeople, "The business world, this will happen to you tomorrow too. This mindset will seize your assets, it will happen to you as well," are not a prophecy. I personally witnessed Doğru Party Chairman Rifat Serdaroğlu tell many businesspeople the following: "Sooner or later, they will seize your companies by appointing trustees."

Indeed, the law granting the TMSF the authority to appoint trustees to private companies is in parliament...

The ruling parties finance politics through central government, the local administrations they hold, and Treasury grants; opposition parties do so through the local administrations they hold and Treasury grants; and parties with groups in parliament do so through Treasury grants. And the latest polls show that none of them can create hope among voters. Voters are in search of something new. The path to this is not achieved solely through the right political discourse and program. Alongside that, the financing of politics is also required. 

Regarding the words of Serdaroğlu and İmamoğlu, I say this:

To break free from the dirty financing of politics, decent businesspeople must support the opposition. Many decent businessmen pay large sums in transfer fees for dozens of football players. If they were to channel the transfer fee they pay for just one player—not dozens—into politics, they would both be serving Turkey and feel more secure against the government's lawless practices. But they do not take on such a responsibility. Therefore, when political financing is dirty, politics remains under the monopoly of dirty people. Many intellectuals are becoming hesitant to enter politics.

IF THERE WERE AN ELECTION TODAY

In a telephone survey conducted by the ASAL research company in January with 1,800 people across 26 provinces, “If there were an election this Sunday, which party would you vote for?” The responses given to the question are:

Undecided / Will not vote: 36.7

CHP 20.2

AKP 18.7

DEM                           6.1

MHP 5.6

İYİP 2.8

Yeniden Refah 2.5

TİP 1

Other 4.1