Fear haunts the mountains. He is truly afraid

In those good old days, when anyone who broke free from their leash didn't appear on screens as an "analyst," "expert," or "political scientist," and when just anyone didn't offer know-it-all political commentary, one of the greats of our profession said, "You have to pay attention to what the citizen says; sometimes they hit the nail right on the head."

Just like the retired imam who confronted Özgür Özel during his shopkeeper visit in Ardahan!

He explained on the spot that he had worked for 25 years and had been making a living by selling water at festivals after retirement, "I quit being an imam and became a red communist" he said, "I am uncomfortable with your soft opposition" and with these words, he slapped the sentence that those in the other neighborhood refrain from saying by making up a thousand excuses right into Özgür Özel's face.

Oh, how wonderful; I am sure there are many who felt relieved and thought he spoke for us, but here, it is necessary to focus on Özgür Özel's response to this as much as the imam's reaction.

Perhaps he is not aware, but his answer explains quite well why he is in such a hurry to fall into line with the government after sitting in the chairman's seat.

"It's not like that... Look, when you become part of a tension that disturbs the nation by saying 'let me provide firm opposition,' do you know what Tayyip Bey does? He first marginalizes his opponent, then demonizes them, polarizes them, and carries the crowd behind him. We have to break that game now. He always keeps the crowd behind him from these fights, saying 'I am in danger, I am in danger.' There is no danger; the nation is in danger; there is the danger of hunger, misery, and unemployment. We will solve them all. What is needed for that? Power is needed. For that, one must conduct politics open to everyone. Always opposition, look, when you become part of a tension that disturbs the nation by saying 'let me provide firm opposition'... It's the same game since his prime ministry. We have to break that game now. The nation is in no danger; there is the danger of hunger, misery, and unemployment. We will solve them all. What is needed for that? Power is needed. For that, one must conduct politics open to everyone."

What should we understand from these sentences?

I mean, is Özgür Özel really hitting the brakes only to avoid falling into Tayyip Erdoğan's polarization trap?

As İsmet İnönü said, oh come on, you too...

Fear haunts the mountains. He is truly afraid.

Not just a little...

He is openly terrified of Tayyip Erdoğan; if he grabs me by the ear and throws me inside, I won't be able to get out for ages, for example, İmamoğlu... He can't say it, but he is implying: 'Don't expect an opposition from me that will carry the nation's anger to the squares.'

He might be right from his own perspective. He has enough reasons to be afraid.

Because there is no government in front of him that will step aside and sit in its corner when it loses an election.

63 summaries of proceedings are hanging over his head like the sword of Damocles. The order to lift his immunity is between Tayyip Erdoğan's two lips. If the police knock on his door at the crack of dawn, all the investment he has made in his political life to date will be wasted.

He is aware of this!

Did he wait in vain for all those years in the warm cocoon at Kılıçdaroğlu's side? Did he risk sidelining İmamoğlu with a body feint for nothing? Did he knock Mansur Yavaş out of the game by saying 'go away, come here' for nothing?

Whatever he does, whatever he says, the 'New Party' voter who doesn't find fault with Özgür Özel, do they now understand why he tried to curry favor with the government by saying 'let's be warm, let's soften, let's normalize' after sitting in the chairman's seat, why he appeared with the plaid jacket that is Tayyip Erdoğan's trademark, why he ran to the Palace with mesir paste in his hand, why he jumped headfirst into the Abdullah Öcalan commission in Parliament, why he said 'yes' to the framework law, why he met behind closed doors with Bülent Arınç, the heavyweight elder of political Islamists, why he stood at attention before Bahçeli, why he defused the tens of thousands who gathered in Saraçhane after İmamoğlu was sentenced and sent them home, why he stalled the people of our country by saying 'hang in there, my brave lion' while they were blatantly seizing Üsküdar...

Let's not prolong it; he has now confessed it quite well. Of course, to those who understand or want to understand.

We had mentioned it before, but let's write it once more, thinking that what is not repeated becomes a guest of memory.

The real reason he avoids a direct frontal war with the government is here! 

Özgür Özel is trying to buy time. Because he is playing for the post-Tayyip Erdoğan era. He is calculating how to reach that day safely and soundly by somehow protecting his political existence. He must be thinking that the political arena will be left to him through natural means.

For this reason, he constantly adjusts his tone and dosage. He holds rallies but watches the limit. He speaks harshly but does not burn the bridges completely. He challenges, then emphasizes "politics open to everyone." While keeping one foot on the gas, he does not take the other foot off the brake.

But:

While Özgür Özel is buying time for himself, the people of our country are losing.

While Özgür Özel is waiting for the right moment, people cannot get back the years lost from their lives.

While Özgür Özel is holding back to avoid falling into Tayyip Erdoğan's game, Tayyip Erdoğan continues to set up and play his own game.

The objection of the citizen in Ardahan is exactly to this. Clearly, the man has no interest in the theory of politics; there is no theory left in his life.

While he is calculating so that Tayyip Erdoğan does not pull us into polarization, the man has already been pushed to the edge of life.

Özgür Özel, in his own mind, says "let's not scare the nation."  But the man is already scared.

From not being able to make ends meet, from not being able to pay his rent, from his child's future, from the police, from justice, from being left alone against the state, from the opposition leaving him alone...

In the end, looking into Özgür Özel's eyes:

"I am uncomfortable with your soft opposition" he said.

What else can the man say?

Let's write it by underlining it with a thick pen.

In today's tyrannical circumstances and conditions, opposition cannot be made with timid steps and by fearing the limits drawn by the government.

The people of our country do not like those who try to seize seats with a thousand tricks in murky weather; they love those who shield their chests against the storm. They look not only at promises but at a heart of steel that will stand behind those promises. The people of our country will not show the face of power for sixty years, nor will they hand over the seal of the state to an understanding that does not take the risk of paying any price for the sake of the country's survival and the nation's welfare, and that cannot leave its comfort zone and slam its fist on the table.

Let us put a period to our article by saying that the real power of the opposition should not be "softening, warming up, normalizing" in the shadow of the government; it should be to take the front line in the squares, in the courthouse corridors, and in the heart of the people with a will that will tear that shadow apart.