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We actually don't exist!

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As the election period approaches, the intensity of arguments, accusations, and blame in politics—and consequently in society and on social media—is rising significantly.

Constant sniping at each other, attempts to hit below the belt…

You would think two enemy nations, two enemy peoples were at war…

Every society has different views, beliefs, lifestyles, and sexual orientations.

That is no longer the case for us!

If you aren't one of us, you should be finished!

And unfortunately, both the government and the opposition are not hesitant to throw fuel on the fire of this tense environment.

Everyone has the question ‘Oh! What happened to us?’ on their lips. However, when it comes to taking responsibility, there is nothing but silence!

Why?

Well, we are afraid!

One word.

That is the truth!

We are afraid…

Just like what happened to dear Feyza Altun last week…

Nowadays, your words or criticisms don't even need to be against the law.

It is left to the initiative of trolls on X. It is a great shame!

Do you also feel lonely sometimes?

Like you are excluded…

Like you are forgotten…

We, the ordinary mortals. That is, those of us without powerful uncles or aunts in high places, those who work, who try to remain enlightened, who love their country, who have embraced Atatürk’s path, who are walking for this country to reach the level of contemporary civilizations, who protect their values but at the same time want to be free and independent—in other words, who want to live… The list goes on…

We observe this every day in street interviews.

When the microphone is extended to an older man, he says, “My daughter, they pushed us aside for years. They acted as if we didn't exist. Now it is our turn, you don't exist!”

Things have turned exactly into that; we have been divided in two like a giant cake cut down the middle with a knife.

It feels as if you must take a side just to be protected or to feel safe.

It is as if the saying ‘if you don't take a side, you will be eliminated’ has now become a reality…

It doesn't even matter which side it is, really…

Just as the middle class has disappeared due to the economy, those of us who feel like we are in the middle, as the man said, ‘don't exist’ anymore.

If we support the government when it takes a correct step, we are labeled as sycophants; if we criticize the opposition, we are traitors; if we find something wrong with the government, we can be labeled as puppets of foreign powers…

So many people around me feel this way…

We express morality, values, religion, Atatürk, our history, and the Republic always through a lens of formalism.

This bothers me a lot.

Especially the large portion of this country's working, productive people who are Atatürkist, secular, respectful of religious values, and believe in the importance of education and equality feel excluded.

By both the government and the opposition.

We are always taken for granted.

The comfort of thinking, 'they will vote for us anyway'…

Is that really the case?

The government is already very successful at consolidating the voters who look to it under any circumstances.

The opposition, on the other hand, is chasing after voters from the government…

And us?

Well, as we said

We don't exist!

We are taken for granted under any circumstances…

Do you also feel lonely sometimes?

Like you are excluded…