The insurance of democracy was not capitalism, but communism

In Turkey, democracy and the rule of law have been trampled upon for a long time. With the one-man regime, we have reached a point where a single person at the top can do whatever they please. The Constitution is effectively null and void. The vast majority of society is below the poverty line, struggling with the cost of living and hunger. They were of the opinion that hungry people do not demand freedom and democracy. The imprisonment of Ekrem İmamoğlu based on fabricated secret witness testimonies was the final straw. 

For now, it seems that the public's reaction, the treatment of young people that goes beyond cruelty, torture, detentions, arrests, and concepts like law, human rights, and democracy are of no concern to them. We will see how long this continues. 

In the commentary being made, it is said that the reason President Erdoğan has become so reckless and gone this far is that he was emboldened by the phone call he had with US President Trump.  It is true; experienced diplomats and retired staff officers have very pertinent comments in this direction. They know Trump's plans and can predict what he might ask of Erdoğan. Since many articles have been written and comments made on television about this, I will not repeat them. Erdoğan will fulfill Trump's requests, and Trump will not condemn Erdoğan for his actions that are contrary to democracy and the rule of law. Besides, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Turkey are not Trump's concern anyway... 

But I would like to add this.

Erdoğan did not reach this point in a single day... 

He did not reach this point solely by receiving support from the outside world...

He reached this point by drawing his primary support and courage from an opposition that has been 'pretending' for years.

 Recall what Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the executives sitting in the captain's chair of the CHP at that time did during very critical turning points. I will give just one example. 

Specifically, the acceptance of the constitutional referendum that led to a regime change with "unstamped ballots"  and the legitimization of illegitimacy, followed shortly after by his 400-kilometer walk—not for an injustice done to the public, but for an injustice done to his own member of parliament to appease public reaction—was not a search for "Rights, Law, Justice," but rather a move to deflate the rising public reaction.

Instead of walking 400 kilometers from Ankara to Istanbul, if he had walked 2 kilometers to the front of the Supreme Election Council (YSK) in Ankara after the decision to accept the unstamped ballots, or if he had called on his organizations to gather in front of the Provincial Election Boards, Turkey would be in a different place today. In the meantime, my friend and former colleague at the same newspaper, Enis Berberoğlu, should not take offense. What was done to him was an injustice. I am not condemning the action taken for Enis, but the inaction regarding the Constitution and Turkey.

WESTERNISM AND WESTERN CONCEPTS ARE DIFFERENT THINGS 

Now let us come to the stance of the US, Trump, and the West... Being Western is one thing. Accepting Western concepts and values is another. Being a Westernist is something else entirely.

Of course, there are fine examples regarding democracy and law dating back to antiquity.  Let us not go into detail,  Let us just recall the Lycian civilization in Anatolia, as well as the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.   What I mean to say is that modern democracy, fundamental human rights, and modern law developed with the French Revolution. They became the concepts of the Western world. 

Romantic intellectuals question why the West and the US do not speak out against Erdoğan's anti-democratic stance, especially the brutal treatment by the state's police and judiciary against young people. They accuse Europe and America of being hypocritical. Let us state this fact very clearly.  

COMPETITION BETWEEN CAPITALIST AND COMMUNIST SYSTEMS

Let us recall the characteristics of the two economic models and two forms of governance in the bipolar world that emerged after the Second World War.  

The capitalist Atlantic Pact, which prioritized the market economy...

The communist Warsaw Pact, which prioritized a centrally planned economy...

The capitalist system was not egalitarian. There was an order of exploitation between classes and between countries. There was democracy, freedom of thought, freedom to disseminate ideas, freedom of belief, and freedom of enterprise. The use of market dynamics, the competitive environment, and freedoms gave the system an advantage in the race for economic and technological development.

The communist system was egalitarian. It had eliminated the problems of housing, healthcare, education, and livelihood for people. In return, there was the oppressive regime of the Communist Party under the name of the dictatorship of the proletariat. There were no individual freedoms, freedom of expression, or freedom of travel. In an environment without freedom, the development of the economy and technology also suffered. 

In the bipolar world, the capitalist system placed importance on three concepts to prove and market its superiority against the communist system. Democracy,  freedoms, and the social state. 

Against the Soviets, who increased their power and sphere of influence after the Second World War, they injected the principle of the welfare state into the capitalist system. With the welfare state principle, they could not achieve the fair distribution that was the superior aspect of the communist regime, but they tried to approach it. They developed social security systems such as education, health, and pension systems. They adopted the welfare state principle by increasing the tax revenue/GDP (national income) ratio, which was around 20 percent in the 1940s, to 40 percent or even 50 percent.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the capitalist system no longer felt the need for the advocacy of freedom and democracy it used to market itself. Since there was no socialist and planning-based economic system left, the liberal order also evolved into a new stage, transitioning to a neoliberal system. Now, the principles of the welfare state could also be gradually abandoned. Education, health, housing, and pension systems entered the scope of the private sector and were left to the market. Citizens were persuaded to purchase their basic rights, such as education and health, by going into debt if necessary.

For the US and European imperialist countries, democracy and human rights are only valid for the “White Man”who supports their own power. Over time, “non-white White Men” who conform to the order have also emerged. The democracy that applies to other people is like the democracy they brought to Iraq and Libya.

It may sound a bit strange, as in the title, but the guarantor of democracy and freedom was the communist system, which itself lacked democracy and freedom.   

DIGITAL FASCISM IS COMING

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the capitalist system no longer really needed democracy. In fact, we are beginning to encounter a new type of fascism.  

The neoliberal order is being shaken from two different fronts. One is the unrest caused by inequalities between classes and countries... The other is that the principle of duty-free foreign trade and the free movement of capital has benefited China much more than the US... The most fundamental principle of neoliberalism, the zeroing of customs duties, has been demolished by Trump.  

The cracks in the neoliberal order and developments in technology point to a new economic model  and management model for the coming period. 

Artificial intelligence and algorithms are affecting the entire world. Through algorithms, via social media and mobile phones, they are influencing people's consumption habits, social and political behavioral patterns, and even the dreams they have while sleeping. Forget the market economy, the price mechanism, and the law of supply and demand. Consumption and investment decisions will be made by algorithms managed by tech giant companies. And, of course, they will not be limited to influencing consumption; they will also influence voting preferences. 

The massive corporations that manage algorithms and artificial intelligence can no longer be defined merely as massive corporations. They are directly in the White House administration. The US is transitioning from the type of fascism we know to digital fascism. In China, digital controls over people had already begun long ago. And some friends of ours expect the US, which is transitioning to digital fascism, to protest the authoritarian and oppressive regime in Turkey.

DEMOCRACY CANNOT BE ACHIEVED THROUGH THE BENEVOLENCE OF FOREIGNERS...

Imperialism does not pursue democracy. For them, what matters in regions where they have plans are unstable countries with dependent economies and politically cornered leaders who will do whatever they are told.

It would be naive to expect support for democracy from the outside. Democracy and freedoms do not come as a favor from foreigners; they come through the demands and struggle of society. Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk did not establish the Republic of Turkey through the favor of foreigners. He first rallied the nation behind him, rebuilt the disbanded army, won the War of Independence through congresses and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey by having the national will behind him at every stage, and carried out the Republican Revolutions by having the nation behind him at every step.

The state of the Middle Eastern states established with foreign support after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire—Iraq, Syria—is clear for all to see. Within the scope of the U.S. Greater Middle East Project, we are being dragged toward a Middle Eastern state that is divided along ethnic and religious lines and whose internal conflicts never end. We need to revive Atatürk's anti-imperialist stance.  

There is no such thing as hopelessness, only difficult conditions. It appears that the youth, whom we thought did not care about the world, are demanding democracy.  Along with the demand for democracy, economic demands will rise not only from the youth but from every segment of society.