The foundations of the Republic and the ignorance of the intelligentsia

The struggle for the founding of the Republic cannot be told as if it were a war story. The country's problems cannot be solved with hypocritical politicians who collaborate with imperialism.

The Republic was founded on 3 foundations:

1-Independence

2-Democracy

3-Socialism (Collectivism)

INDEPENDENCE:

While laying the foundation of the Republic's independence, Mustafa Kemal Pasha and the Kuvayi Milliye (National Forces) cadres fought in three areas. They carried out three major actions.

-The act of struggle against imperialism.

-The act of national democratic revolution against the Sultan.

-The act of transitioning from the stage of the Ummah (religious community) to the stage of the nation.

STRUGGLE AGAINST IMPERIALISM:

The fundamental understanding and method of Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his friends in the struggle for independence was to be against imperialism. Never before in history had anyone grasped imperialism from the perspective of Turkey with the depth that Mustafa Kemal Pasha understood it. During the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman state never had a concern called imperialism. In fact, imperialism was not even heard of in the Ottoman Empire. However, in the War of Independence, imperialism was directly targeted and fought against. The Greeks' attack on Anatolia was a full-blown imperialist war. Behind the Greeks, just as in today's Israeli oppression, there is America and there is Europe.

Imperialism is, in a word, tyranny. Great powers, or more accurately, the ruling class that integrates with those great powers that manage the great powers, are the source of capitalism, oppression, and tyranny. When we look at the imperialist practices of capitalism, we see military interventions, genocides, as well as tricks, lies, robbery, and exploitation. In fact, while carrying out this exploitation, the capitalist class talked about civilization and claimed to be bringing civilization to the world.

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION AGAINST THE SULTAN:

The abolition of the Sultanate and the transition from being a subject to being a citizen is a very important step for democracy. For this reason, the founding of the Republic does not resemble republics in other countries. The goal of our republic is to establish democracy. In fact, if the republic does not have the goal of establishing democracy, that Republic becomes a fascist Republic. It cannot be a democratic Republic.

There cannot be a republic for democracy; therefore, the founding of the republic during the national democratic revolution process is the beginning of a process where the foundations of democracy are fully laid. Democracy and the Republic are a whole; the Republic has paved the way for democracy. It has gained very important distances in the process. When the revolutions are viewed with scientific reason and conscience, we can see this very clearly. For this reason, the phrase 'We will crown the Republic with democracy' is an empty, meaningless phrase. The Republic means democracy, and democracy means the Republic.

Turkey's historical realities have integrated these two concepts. They have made them synonymous. But those who subtly serve imperialism, those who want to wound the Republic, have set traps for the republic with a number of fabricated concepts. They have set traps for democracy. The bottlenecks of democracy in Turkey, that is, military coups, are the work of NATO, Europe, and the United States of America, that is, the work of imperialism.

-THE ACT OF TRANSITIONING FROM THE STAGE OF THE UMMAH TO THE STAGE OF THE NATION:

In all processes of the war of independence, the transition from the stage of the Ummah to the stage of the nation is a very important step taken for democracy and science. In fact, many Islamic scholars say that the Islam in the Quran is very different from the Islam that was fabricated later. The Ummah is not a person who rents out their mind. Because there is a verse that is frequently repeated in the Quran; "We rain filth upon those who do not use their reason."

In the Islam that was fabricated later, submission is demanded, such as the submission of the dead to the mortician, to the sheikh or the leader of the sect. This is a situation that strips a person of their humanity.

Individual independence is also very important. To be a citizen of democratic states, one must also be independent as an individual. Individual independence is to recognize no guide other than the guidance of science.

DEMOCRACY:

Democracy is the fundamental element of the republic. However, in the century-long process, what needed to be done for democracy has not been done. For example, the communication dimension of democracy, that is, democracy in communication, carries serious obstacles. The political dimension of democracy has also, unfortunately, regressed over time. For example, there is no sufficient intra-party democracy in any of the political parties. Parties are not parties of members and organizations, and again, the vast majority of parties are structures consisting of a leader plus crowds.

The economic dimension of democracy has never been sufficient anyway. An economic order that is dependent on the outside, devoid of creativity, and operating on monetary games based on buying and selling is dragging our people from pain to pain, from poverty to deprivation.

For example, there is no sufficient consumer organization. Unions cannot perform their functions. There are no unions in many private workplaces. Unions cannot organize there. Unions only organize in state enterprises and municipalities. Whereas the real place to organize is the workplaces of the private sector. Moreover, the High Arbitration Board practice has already destroyed trade union freedom.

So, as a result, there is no democracy in the economy either. In short, all the foundations of democracy were laid, but unfortunately, the revolutions brought by the republic could not be completed in the subsequent processes.

SOCIALISM (COLLECTIVISM):

The equality element of democracy already reveals in a sense that democracy must be collectivist. However, both Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his comrades-in-arms actually wanted to establish a collectivist order with the practice of statism. However, collectivism has extremely disturbed the property owners and the ruling classes.

Some excerpts from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's speech on March 22, 1922:

IT IS NECESSARY TO READ IT MANY TIMES IN THE CENTENNIAL. IT IS NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND IT

“… you all know that the most important states of Europe emerged from the losses of Turkey and the regression of Turkey. The most powerful developments that affect the whole world today and keep our nation's life and our country under threat have been realized through the losses of Turkey. If a strong Turkey had maintained its existence, it could be said today that England's current policy would not exist. If Turkey had not been defeated in Pest and Belgrade after Vienna, the Austro-Hungarian policy would not have been mentioned; France, Italy, and Germany also developed and strengthened their lives and politics by being inspired by the same source.”

“… the starting point of this decline began with fear and helplessness. A number of people who had somehow come to lead Turkey, the Turkish people, were keeping Turkey in a timid state, as if they were condemned to remain silent in the face of victorious enemies one day. They were cowardly and hesitant in doing what the interests of the country and the nation required. Intellectuals in Turkey were almost insulting themselves. They were saying, 'We are not men and we cannot be. There is no possibility for us to become men on our own.' They wanted to leave our lives, our history, our existence unconditionally to the Europeans, who were our enemies and about whom there was no doubt that they were enemies. They were saying, 'Let them govern us.'" (Mustafa Kemal Atatürk - Taken from Attila İlhan's book 'Hangi Atatürk'.)