Opposition media and the public: 'Weapons of mass persuasion'

We were going to start with the opposition and the US-EU pendulum in Hungary, and then move on to how the "democratic search," focused on the fantasy of a "true party of capital," has crippled the Turkish left. The best-laid plans went awry. Despite the horrific collapse in Turkey, we felt we needed to highlight other things due to the desperation of the opposition.

Indeed, there is no need to discuss at length what the optimism that the power card passed from Viktor Orban to Peter Magyar could be repeated in Turkey actually means. Hungary cannot be an example for a country like ours in any respect. Although the Orban-Magyar game is not much different from the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan-Ahmet Davutoğlu game, which is no longer on the agenda, a small Hungary cannot be a model for a great Turkey. But there are those who think so.

We see this: The scenario presented as the opposition, which prides itself on rally numbers, shows a truly pathetic lack of depth. Since Davutoğlu has no remaining influence or credibility, it must be assumed that the CHP and its auxiliaries are expected to take power from the AKP in his place. If not Ekrem İmamoğlu, then Özgür Özel; if not him, then Mansur Yavaş... Perhaps others could be brought to the table.

That is where things are heading.

But why?

"WEAPONS OF MASS PERSUASION"

Let us start by drawing attention to this: One day before the "quite surprising" election success in Budapest, a small meeting was held in Ankara, where a sign emerged regarding why Turkey, both as a holistic power and as a Turkish intelligentsia, is so important.

12punto's regular columnist Bahadır Selim Dilek gave a speech after Prof. Dr. Örsan Öymen at a meeting held in Ankara last Saturday, which was poorly attended for some reason but was nonetheless important. Dilek made very justified, creative, and stinging observations there. One of these observations must have been made by looking at the accounts of the intra-system opposition and its two companies in the media. According to the experienced journalist Dilek, we were now facing a "weapon of mass persuasion" that resembles weapons of mass destruction. It is possible to watch the enlightening speeches of Dilek, Prof. Dr. Öymen, and lawyer Muhammed Aybars Akdoğan from this meeting on YouTube, even if the technical quality is not at the desired level

The creative observations Bahadır Selim Dilek made by looking not only at the pro-government media but also at the opposition media are correct. This subject, which can also be called an "opposition trap," can be explored in books, new articles, and meetings. It is impossible not to agree with the rejection Dilek voiced against the glorification of a media that has the power to drug, immobilize, and bury the public alive, and with his careful emphasis on the weaknesses of the opposition.

The "let's not cause any trouble opposition," which claims they will end the rule of an openly Islamist cadre in Turkey in the first election, is the AKP's greatest asset. People in the grassroots and lower ranks of the CHP and DEM are also noticing this.

In that case, is it necessary to vent the public's anger and put the brakes on a search for a radical new government? Probably.

It is clear that the "acceptable opposition media," rather than the intra-system opposition parties, can prevent the pressure that the public, seeking a way out in the face of horrific impoverishment and the danger of war, would create. The problem is not there. The problem is that people who want to take responsibility for a new and progressive Turkey are participating in this setup willingly. Is it necessary to make people, who think they have fulfilled their duty by going to the ballot box—apparently 13 times—like sheep, choosing one right-winger after another, and that they are waging a very effective struggle against a religious government rising on a mafia economy in a country where secularism is being trampled upon, ready/eager to play this game for the 14th time with different actors? Is there anyone thinking about which opposition figures will renew a republic whose settings have been completely tampered with and collapsed?

Within the framework of "weapons of mass persuasion," there is not.

Could a reactionary government that has managed to destroy all the gains of the republic in a quarter-century, and achieved this thanks to liberal technocrats who share the view that the Republic of Turkey is an "anomaly" with nationalists and religious conservatives, find a more compliant opposition or more effective media support than this?

One must be blind and deaf not to see and hear that weapons of mass persuasion are very effective, especially in the hands of the opposition. There is a game being played here.

The question is: Are we the only few people who know this truth? Could it be that thousands of our opposition members, who think they are against them, know this truth just as well as the sycophantic media gunslingers in the Turkish media? There must be a reason for their silence.

Their inability to draw up a government scenario makes the possibility of a Peter Magyar-type shadow, who would be considered opposition in Ankara, sitting in the presidency easier. Perhaps they are preparing this scenario.