Kemal Okuyan gives an ironic response to the 'AKP was good at first' debates

The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) held a large public meeting on October 22 at the Aşık Veysel Recreation Area in Bornova, İzmir, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Republic. The centenary was celebrated with a massive open-air event.

Kemal Okuyan's ironic dialogue, intended to put an end to the debates that 'the AKP was good from the very beginning,' drew attention.

''THERE WERE THOSE WHO ASKED US 'IS IT UP TO YOU TO DEFEND SECULARISM?'''

Emphasizing the darkness the AKP has created in Turkey, Okuyan stated, "When the republic was founded in 1923, the excitement and hope of the people were completely different. So what happened that we ended up like this? What happened that our country and our people have always gone downhill? According to some, Turkey is soaring; they talk about the 'Century of Turkey.' If Turkey is sects, rent-seekers, drug barons, and holding company bosses, then yes, Turkey is soaring for them. The AKP's greatest success is marketing this destruction and decay as a success.

We used to say that you cannot be a leftist in Turkey without defending secularism, without opposing privatizations, and without being against the AKP; there were those who asked us, 'Is it up to you to defend secularism?'" Okuyan reminded the audience of those who claimed that fascism would be shaken thanks to the AKP, those who saw the EU as progress, those who claimed we would be liberated through privatizations, and those who expected the AKP to solve the Kurdish issue.