17 ministers and TRT! 'I have never seen an election where the state participated in such a propaganda war!'

T24 columnist Ertuğrul Özkök wrote an article about current politics 4 days before the local elections.

Criticizing the fact that ministers have taken to the field for AKP candidates, Özkök said the following in his column:

"THE STATE'S GOVERNORS, ITS TRT ARE IN THE ELECTION ARENA..."

"As a citizen of the Republic of Turkey living in Istanbul; the picture I see on television 24 hours a day, 1,440 minutes a day, is as follows:

(*) 17 ministers of the state are focused on Istanbul...

Among them are ministers whose agendas are extremely heavy these days, such as Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Interior.

However, according to our new system, ministers are not people with political identities.

They are a kind of official state functionary...

(*) The state's governors, district governors, police chiefs, police officers, and the principals of the schools our children attend have left their work and are fighting on the side of the ruling party in the Istanbul election.

(*) The state's subways, infrastructure, and superstructure facilities have been allocated to the command of the ruling party's candidate.

(*) The state's TRT and the number of channels, newspapers close to the government that I cannot count, are working like the ruling party's propaganda organ.

(*) If the ruling party candidate loses, a trustee will be appointed to Istanbul,

"A CANDIDATE FIGHTING ALONE..."

(*) That Selahattin Demirtaş will not be released, that the government will become even tougher and more ruthless, and that not only Istanbul but all cities that do not vote for them will be ruthlessly punished, is being spread in the most open, most direct terms...

Again, as a citizen; the picture shown to us in response to this is as follows:

(*) Against a massive state armada, a candidate who seems to be fighting alone: Ekrem İmamoğlu...

I am sure this is the picture seen by everyone trying to look impartially.

"I SAY THIS WITH ALL MY HEART"

Today, I am a 76-year-old citizen of the Republic of Turkey.

(*) I experienced the 1961 election after the 1960 military coup.

(*) I experienced the 1974 election after the March 12 military period.

(*) I experienced the first election held in 1983 after September 12.

(*) I experienced the election during the February 28 period.

And I experienced almost all of these elections as a person who voted for the opposition.

I say this with all my heart, I have never seen an election until today where the state participated in a propaganda war so openly.

"THEY SAY THE RACE IS A TOSS-UP"

Was there no pressure on the public in those periods?

There was.

But in none of them had the state engaged itself so much in an election.

Especially not in local elections...

So what result does this produce?

They say the race is a toss-up.

REMINDING OF ÖZAL

Throughout my life, the late Turgut Özal was among the politicians I admired the most and whose policies I liked the most.

As a citizen, I am grateful for the reforms he made in this country.

When he made threats similar to today's in a local election he entered during the brightest period of his politics, the result he got was a drop to 21 percent of the vote.

That is how Özal's end began.

In that election, although I greatly admired the reforms he made, I was one of those who did not vote for his party.

Because I saw the threats as an interference with my free choice.

"IT CREATED THE EXACT OPPOSITE EFFECT"

Yet, after the September 12 coup, when the soldiers were pressuring all citizens by saying "Do not vote for him," the same Özal fought alone, won the majority in Parliament, and made those very reforms.

What I am saying is this:

This heavy state threat and propaganda had the exact opposite effect in the past.

2019 LOCAL ELECTIONS

Does the current government not have heavy experience in this regard as well?

In the 2019 election, Ekrem İmamoğlu won by surpassing a giant politician like Binali Yıldırım, who had also achieved good things in this country, as a result of an election campaign he conducted almost entirely alone.

When the government did not accept the results of the first round and had an institution that should remain neutral, like the Supreme Election Council, make the decision to renew the election, the earthquake experienced at the ballot box is still in our memories.

The public never liked that imposition...

"WHAT HAD THEY SAID?"

If so, why does the government insist on an election strategy in the shadow of this wrong state pressure?

Why are those communication mistakes made in 2019 being repeated?

Remember, what had they said back then?

"WERE WE WRONG?"

(*) Whoever loses Istanbul loses Turkey...

(*) If Istanbul is lost, the survival of the state will be in danger...

And what had we said in those days?

We said both of these were wrong.

We said both would backfire.

Were we wrong?

In his article, Özkök also recalled Erdoğan's words, "The state exists for the citizen... The state is at the service of the citizen," and said the following:

LET'S SEE WHAT COMES OUT OF THE BALLOT BOX

"We will see what result the state with 17 ministers and TRT will get at the ballot box.

We will see what result a campaign conducted with 17 ministers, governors, district governors, police chiefs, and school principals will yield at the ballot box...

I do not know what the result will be.

But there is a quote from Erdoğan himself that I remember very well:

The state exists for the citizen... The state is at the service of the citizen.

I am waiting for March 31 with curiosity.

Let's see what comes out of the ballot box?

A state that exists for the citizen, or its own desire?..

Or a state that says to the citizen, 'You exist for me'...

Whatever the result, we will listen to Elfida a lot on Instagram posts this summer.

Because the state is one way today, another way tomorrow...

But this is our only homeland..."