Criticism of CHP's sit-in protest: 'You could gather 1 million people in Taksim...'

The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation had filed a criminal complaint against members of the Constitutional Court (AYM) following the AYM's ruling that the continued detention of Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) Hatay MP Can Atalay constituted a violation of rights. Following these developments, the CHP began a 'Justice Watch' in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Former CHP Deputy Chairman Hurşit Güneş criticized the CHP's action on his social media account.

Güneş published his criticisms on his social media account. Recalling the eras of İsmet İnönü and Bülent Ecevit, Güneş wrote the following:

"The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation had filed a criminal complaint against AYM members following the AYM's ruling that the continued detention of Hatay MP Can Atalay constituted a violation of rights. This is, of course, a scandalous blow to the constitutional order! The strange part is that the People's Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı) embraced this scandal. Following this, the CHP has been holding a 'Justice Watch' for over 20 days. The watch by provincial organizations ended yesterday. The watch by CHP MPs is presumably still ongoing. Meanwhile, of course, the budget, which is of great interest to the public, is being negotiated in Parliament.

In 2011, immediately after the elections, the CHP had decided not to enter the TBMM General Assembly following the continued detention of Zonguldak MP Mehmet Haberal and İzmir MP Mustafa Balbay. I expressed in the Central Executive Board (MYK) at the time that I did not find it appropriate for this to turn into an 'indefinite' protest (on record). Indeed, the CHP's return from that decision was quite painful.

Protest movements are carried out to draw the attention of society. Especially organizations outside of parliament resort to this out of desperation. However, the CHP's justice watches have not shaken the government, and have even stopped appearing in the news. But more importantly, the fact that the main opposition is attempting these protest processes at a point where all political options within parliamentary politics seem to have been exhausted actually reinforces the authoritarianism in the country. This is what needs to be thought about seriously.

The main opposition party in parliament has very important responsibilities and political capacity. It is unfair to the voters to show the same political reactions as an NGO that has remained outside of parliament after receiving the support of a significant portion of the public in elections. (Let us remind you; doesn't the CHP argue that it has secured many socioeconomic improvements? For example, subcontracted workers. There are many more examples!) Beyond showing an injustice to the public, the main opposition has a responsibility to make an effort to resolve that injustice.

All legitimate negotiation, warning, and reconciliation processes allowed by the political process should be attempted, and even pushed. Master politicians construct these and achieve results. In the 1954 elections, the DP won 503 seats, while the CHP could only win 31 MPs. The DP did all sorts of anti-democratic things at that time. But I never heard of İsmet İnönü holding a sit-in protest in Parliament. In the 1970s, the Nationalist Front (MC) governments divided the country into fronts and stained it with blood. I never saw Ecevit hold a sit-in protest either.

The CHP is a heavy and powerful party. Its power comes from its founder, and Erdoğan's oppressive power pales in comparison to it! All legitimate parliamentary political processes should be tried to the end. If that doesn't work, you gather 1 million people in Taksim (the population of Istanbul was 4 million at that time) and the ground shakes! Ecevit did that too!"