Commemorating 'Deniz' and joining 'Mısıroğlu': Burcu Köksal from yesterday to today

To long for something; means to desire to be reunited, to yearn, and it is mostly related to emotions. We feel longing for those we are close to, or those we feel a sense of closeness with.

To show respect takes this commitment a step further. It reveals reverence for an idea, an identity, an attitude, or a struggle; it clearly says, “We are by your side, we are following in your footsteps.”

One week before resigning from the CHP, Afyonkarahisar Mayor Burcu Köksal was commemorating Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan, and Hüseyin İnan, expressing that she remembered them with respect and longing on the anniversary of their execution.

In the CHP tradition, the 'Deniz's are commemorated, marches are held, and events related to them are organized. I don't think we need to say that the same tradition does not exist within the AKP. Moreover, the AKP tradition and the 'Deniz's cannot even stand side by side.

If you ask, “Well, what is the AKP tradition, what does it correspond to in a nutshell?” that is a topic for another article. But here, we can quote Köksal’s own assessment. Köksal has spoken quite clearly and briefly about this in the past. While criticizing Lieutenant Mehmet Ali Çelebi, she said, “Your path is the path of those who are fellow travelers with FETÖ.” Then she added:

“Yesterday you were saying, ‘I am a soldier of Atatürk.’ Today, you have chosen the path of the fellow travelers of the ‘fez-wearing madman’ Kadir, who said, ‘May those who have even the slightest affection for Atatürk not come to my funeral,’ and who prayed, ‘I wish the Greeks had won.’”

The AKP is continuing the Mısıroğlu tradition, then. It is not us saying this, but Köksal.

Let us remember that just recently, while Burcu Köksal was commemorating the 'Deniz's, the AKP Istanbul provincial organization was commemorating Kadir Mısıroğlu with respect and mercy.

In Köksal’s own words, she is now by the side of “those who commemorate the fez-wearing madman Kadir”... I wonder if the AKP Istanbul Provincial Presidency will organize a commemoration event for Kadir Mısıroğlu in the coming years and invite Köksal as well? It is within the realm of possibility... After all, Köksal has become a soldier of AKP politics. Just like Özlem Çerçioğlu. We don't know if we will see them both applauding Mısıroğlu, but it is certain that they are side by side with those who do. When Mısıroğlu died, President Erdoğan published a condolence message and said, “May he rest in peace.” Furthermore, many figures such as Bilal Erdoğan, Berat Albayrak, and Numan Kurtulmuş attended Mısıroğlu’s funeral.

Burcu Köksal knows all of this too. I think she has learned by now who to long for and who to commemorate with respect. The badge does not change on its own; history clearly shows how people change.

But what happened that, after Çerçioğlu, Köksal also moved to the side of those whose stance and path are clear, again in her own words, and wanted to walk the path with them? Do ideas, thoughts, and ideologies change in an instant like this? If not, what is the reason for what is happening? What Köksal said about the AKP is as clear as day. As you know, she even served as the deputy group chairperson of the CHP. So, how did Köksal, who did not hold back any criticism of the AKP in those days, manage to erase history and throw it in the trash in an instant today? Speaking of those days, let us not forget to mention it. Last year, the Star newspaper shared a news story with a photo of Burcu Köksal and her husband: “Family-wide scandal in the CHP Municipality! 700 million bribe ring!”

The Sabah newspaper also shared the same news with its readers as follows:

“700 million bribe ring! Footage emerged of CHP municipal council member Mustafa Kadem in Afyonkarahisar receiving a suitcase full of money from a contractor. It is alleged that the bribe ring was managed by Mayor Burcu Köksal.”

The same Sabah newspaper, again seeing the past as a trash bin, never remembered those days. It reported Köksal’s joining the AKP with the words of the new AKP Mayor Köksal. The news was exactly as follows: “Afyonkarahisar Mayor Burcu Köksal is in the AK Party: I will walk the same path as those who believe in the sanctity of the family!”

The situation was no different in the Star newspaper. Now, the headlines were filled not with bribe rings, but with Erdoğan’s statements. They saw the news like this:

“Burcu Köksal joined the AK Party! President Erdoğan: Our doors are open to those who think Turkey-centered”

That is how the water had passed under the bridges at the speed of light. When you change parties, the past is forgotten, allegations evaporate, and the newspapers were decorated not with bribe rings but with news stories “themed around paths to be walked together.” In that case, the change was not limited to Burcu Köksal. The entire ruling wing had also changed its view, reporting, and language toward her. In other words, there was a mutual change.

This was not a change that could go unnoticed. Köksal, who in the past criticized Erdoğan and the AKP in a harsh tone on economic, social, and political issues, and who addressed the public in this direction and asked voters for votes for her party, was able to change her direction with a quick maneuver today. At this point, it might not be accurate to describe the situation with the word change. Köksal had become “someone else” and had transformed.

At this point, we were faced with a politician who expressed that she felt at peace joining the AK Party, ignoring both her historical memory and her personal past. Her conscience was very clear because, according to her, the AKP valued the sanctity of the family and respected the value judgments of society. Even though the leader of her new party had accused her of being “fascist and racist” until yesterday, she was saying that she would now work for Afyonkarahisar with him. In that case, there was no stopping; she had to continue on the path.

This situation is, of course, not a change or transformation unique to Köksal. The politics of the establishment has, from yesterday to today, discarded phenomena such as principles, values, and social memory for pragmatic reasons, and has made political decisions that contradict its political and moral rhetoric. In this respect, the issue can be read as a strong indicator of social disintegration and decay rather than just an individual problem.

Returning to Köksal:

In her own words, Burcu Köksal was the child of a left-leaning teacher family. Even in her childhood, she had attended Erdal İnönü’s rally at the station and witnessed the march held for Uğur Mumcu in Afyon. These periods were “the most meaningful political memories of her childhood.” Then years passed, she became a lawyer. She took part in organizations such as the Association for Atatürkist Thought and the Association for Supporting Contemporary Life. Moreover, she became a deputy in the CHP and opposed the AKP in the parliamentary benches for twenty years. That was not enough, she served as mayor. Then she went around and said she found peace in the AKP. Look, just last January, Köksal was saying the following:

“In this country, being against the AKP and expressing your opinion, and marching to exercise your constitutional right has almost become a crime. You cannot govern the country with arbitrary practices just because fifty percent are on my side.... Turkey needs a CHP government.”

The old Köksal who said, “Being against the AKP has become a crime,”

The new Köksal who says, “I am joining the AK Party, my conscience is very clear”...

It seems that in this country, sometimes ideas do not change, only positions change. Whatever was felt with anger on behalf of the people yesterday is forgotten today in the shadow of the government. Memory is erased, words are denied, and the past is rewritten. In order to walk in the same ranks today with those who were once targeted as “fellow travelers of the fez-wearing madman Kadir,” the name of Deniz Gezmiş no longer carries weight, the memory of Uğur Mumcu does not draw a boundary, and the sentences established in the squares for years do not bind a person to their own past. Because the politics of the establishment first erodes memory; it alienates a person from their own words, values, and past. When this alienation begins, what happens is not just a party change, but a downright transformation. The fact that those who once directed the harshest criticisms against the AKP by saying, “This country needs a CHP government,” can now find peace in the ranks of the AKP with the same ease shows just how deep and shattering this transformation is.