What is it that Erdoğan wants the CHP to pay 'penance' for?!

While it was being awaited with curiosity whether the CHP would participate in the so-called resolution commission established in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) at the desire of the terrorist leader in İmralı and the PKK, Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, whose major (!) contributions to the Ergenekon plots and the initial opening processes we know, cut it short by saying, "The CHP will participate. It is unthinkable otherwise." So, she knew something again!..

Abdülkadir Selvi, the voice of the government, tried to corner the CHP with the reminder: "The commission proposal had been the CHP's thesis since the previous term. By opposing its own proposal, the CHP killed its own thesis. It would have drawn a historic zigzag."

 Ultimately, when CHP Chairman Özgür Özel managed to extract the concession from Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş that decisions in the commission—which has no legal binding force—would be taken by a "qualified majority" and decided to participate in the work, he received his first praise from Ahmet Hakan, whom Erdoğan has lauded for "doing what is necessary." Hakan said, "He saw the benefit of entering the commission for his party and entered the commission despite the reactions coming from the grassroots."

Let us also convey what the terrorist leader said about the commission during his recent meeting with the İmralı delegation and his relatives.

He emphasized that the issue "should be approached based on the brotherhood law of Kurds and Turks and the development of Turkey's democracy"... He stated that "it would be a huge mistake to handle the subject solely through 'terrorism, violence, and laying down arms'"... And he requested that "all democratic opposition, especially the CHP and Chairman Özgür Özel, approach the process with this perspective," noting that "the process will contribute most to the democratic opposition" and that "staying out of the process would be a strategic mistake."

TO THE CHP IN 2013: "DO NOT MISS THIS CHANCE"

In light of these deep (!) analyses we have underlined, let us recall some of the things the terrorist leader commanded during the opening-dissolution process in 2013.

For example, after explaining that the "commission to evaluate the resolution process" to be established in parliament was important, that they would not cause trouble regarding the name, but that it would work like a "truth commission" or a preliminary preparation for one, he spoke as follows:

“The MHP might oppose it, it would be good if the CHP came, try to convince them. If they don't come, what can we do. Tell the CHP, 'This is a commission that will put all items of democratization on the agenda.' They already announced 16 items or so. These are all topics that this commission will put on the agenda."

In another meeting; "I know how important it is for the CHP to be a good social democratic party, they don't know. Along with my greetings to Akif (Hamzaçebi) and Kemal (Kılıçdaroğlu), tell them, 'Öcalan's criticism of Kemalism is constructive. Kemalism can be useful by being updated. The nationalists are dragging the CHP down. It would have been good if you had supported Öcalan. The commission is an important chance to get rid of the AKP's hegemonic structure. Do not miss this chance.' They must definitely provide members to the commission. Also, say, 'The wise people met with Öcalan, don't blow it out of proportion. We will not allow the AKP to become a dictatorship.' But if they participate, this will happen faster. They should not miss this chance. They should gradually enter both commissions... Yes, you must explain these. You must meet again. The CHP must definitely enter the process," he sent messages.

In his other meetings, he said the following:

- "If Turkey is imitating Europe this much, one should ask why you are not imitating these reforms. Tell the CHP, why are you not following the reforms? If Atatürk were here, he would accept them. Atatürk made the greatest reforms. You can ask the CHP in Parliament, 'Aren't you ashamed? Why don't you accept the reforms?'"

- "Discuss these issues with the CHP as well. Explain it to Kılıçdaroğlu too: 'The state is undergoing a transformation, if you stay out of this, you have no chance of succeeding,' tell him. Explain it. Tell him, 'This is the last chance for you,' let him use this last chance well... Tell him (Kılıçdaroğlu), 'It is the state that is undergoing transformation. The state you idealize. Öcalan wants to explain everything to you. Leave the MHP aside, reconsider your position. You are the ones who brought the AKP upon us as a trouble,' tell him. You explain it too, be stubborn, be profound. 'We are negotiating with the AKP, we will negotiate with you too. If you do not do what is necessary, the AKP will become a trouble for both you and us,' tell him."

How history repeats itself; here is another speech from 2013:

The late Sırrı Süreyya Önder gave the following information about the process of establishing a commission in Parliament:

“The government was blocked. With the weight of the nationalists and the reactions within them, it made a freak commission proposal where it sprinkled the word 'terror' everywhere like chemical fertilizer. Both in our meetings with the Minister of Justice and in our meetings with Hakan Fidan, we suggested that the CHP had such an inquiry commission proposal that it had given in the past and forgotten, that if we updated this, the CHP would come to a crossroads, that if it stood by its motion it would have participated in the process, and if it rejected it, it would be politically worthless. The AKP did not grasp the importance of this at first; they remembered it when they were cornered and implemented it in a rush. At the point reached, a commission with a healthier language and content than the AKP's proposal has reached the stage of being established."

ERDOĞAN DID NOT WANT THE CHP

In an interview he gave to T24 on July 29, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel argued that Erdoğan did not want them in this commission, and challenged him by saying, "Let Erdoğan fear us." Let us just ask these:

If Erdoğan did not want it, for whom did you enter the commission, and what kind of influence could you have there despite Erdoğan?

If what is going to happen is fighting and brawling, we have seen plenty of that. And the result? What has happened or can happen in the TBMM outside the wishes of Erdoğan and Bahçeli?!

Here, CHP Mersin Deputy Gülcan Kış gave the final balance sheet; a total of 1,300 legislative proposals submitted by the opposition have not even been put on the Parliament's agenda!..

IS IT THE PENANCE FOR LAUSANNE?

Let us come to the most important and crucial part. One day before these words of Özel, Erdoğan made the following statement:

"The process of a Turkey without terror is not just the project of the People's Alliance; it is also the project of our government, our state, and most importantly, our nation. It is the longing, expectation, and dream of all 86 million. We see that this dream is turning into reality step by step... I must remind you again by underlining this: Turkey's struggle to get rid of the shackles of terror must not be sacrificed to petty squabbles and different calculations of fortune. In politics, many things can be accidental, but there is no excuse for dragging one's feet, obstructing the work, or trying to dilute the process on this issue. Neither the nation nor history will forgive this. The process of a Turkey without terror is an unmissable opportunity for the main opposition party, in particular, to pay penance for its past sins. Evaluating this opportunity will be a means to compensate for the mistakes made, even if only slightly. It is also our nation's expectation that the main opposition positions itself on the right side of history by looking at the process through a wider lens."

So, there was no such thing as not wanting the CHP!.. As he wished, he considered the CHP's participation in the commission an "unmissable opportunity that could be penance for its past sins."

Not a single soul from the CHP came out and asked, "What are our past sins that require us to pay penance?"

You would think that the CHP; undertook the co-presidency of the Greater Middle East Project (BOP)... Gave whatever "FETÖ and the PKK" wanted... Locked the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces) in Silivri... Opened the Aegean to Greek occupation... Sold everything the country had... While setting wealth records for a handful of men and writing the book on nepotism, it condemned the nation from 7 to 70 to starvation... Collapsed all state mechanisms from education to health...

By the way, what are the CHP's sins? Is it the tearing up of Sèvres and the signing of Lausanne, which the terrorist leader, the PKK, the DEM, and all kinds of opening supporters are harping on about again?.. Is it the replacement of the 1921 Constitution with the 1924 Constitution?.. Or is it the establishment of the unitary and national Republic of Turkey as a whole?..

Let us assume that the CHP has not learned any lessons from the initial opening-dissolution processes.

Hey, what is happening and continues to happen in Iraq, Syria, and Iran is obvious... The roadmap put before us by BOP Governor Tom Barrack is obvious...

Why is there still an insistence on sitting at that table?!

And isn't it claimed that the CHP "opposes the commission being limited only to laying down arms and democratization, and wants urgent steps to be taken regarding justice"; cover me so I can die!..

From the DEM to the government's writers; they are dangling the carrot of the acquittal of Ekrem İmamoğlu and other mayors from four sides.

The Republic of Turkey will be placed on one side of the scale, and İmamoğlu and the other mayors on the other, is that it?

Even the implication of this is the greatest insult to the party of Atatürk, who saved Turkey and founded the Republic of Turkey!..

What we know is; CHP members would rather spend their lives in prison than fall into such humiliation...

That is why we say; the requirement of positioning oneself on the right side of history and the expectation of the nation is for the CHP to exit this dark tunnel while the road is still near!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

August 4, 2025