What do Republicans need to discuss?

On one hand, the events within the CHP in recent months, the debates over absolute nullity, purification, and fragmentation; on the other hand, the NATO summit to be held in Ankara next month, require discussing politics on a political-economic and ideological plane. Beyond being a necessity, it makes it mandatory.

Because as long as this discussion is not held, it is impossible to understand the causes of poverty, the consequences of privatizations, the requirements of an enlightenment-based education, the importance of public ownership in healthcare, the deadlocks in foreign policy, and the corruption in society.

Conducting this discussion is, primarily and especially, the duty of Republicans on a political, social, ideological, class, and cultural level. It is the duty of Republicans, socialists, and communists who know how to perform political analysis, economic analysis, class analysis, and power analysis.

But to conduct this discussion on a healthy ground, it is essential for Republicans and leftists to get rid of these shadows, to free themselves from simplifications and spheres of influence.

The first of these is the shadow of the CHP. It must be stated that getting rid of this shadow, this influence, will relieve both Republicans and leftists.

To get rid of this shadow, one must start by emphasizing that the current debate within the CHP has no ideological basis, and that the opposing forces within the CHP have no differences on the political-economic plane, in taking sides against imperialism, in their view of the US, NATO, and the EU, or in interpreting the Six Arrows, which is the summary and symbol of the Republican Revolution.

Let us recall that the elected chairman of the CHP, Özel, was the group deputy chairman of the appointed chairman Kılıçdaroğlu. He went through his tutelage. Kılıçdaroğlu was the name who politically paved the way for all the people he now complains about, expels, and tries to purge. He gave his blessing to those he called Brutus, to those he implied were thieves; he made them deputies, he made them mayors.

Today, all the people Kılıçdaroğlu has expelled from the party built their political careers not with İsmet İnönü or Bülent Ecevit, not with Deniz Baykal or Altan Öymen, but with Kılıçdaroğlu. There are ethnicists, sectarians, and "fake" republicans in both wings. Both wings defend a pro-Atlantic foreign policy. Both wings are firmly attached to the US, NATO, and EU rote learning. Kılıçdaroğlu, who said "I am Kemal from Dersim, revolutionary Kemal" when he was first elected chairman, had proven how "revolutionary" he was many times during his 13-year chairmanship, for instance, in nominating Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu for the presidency, or in the generous distribution of parliamentary seats to the Table of Six.

Today, he is objectively and factually performing the same duty. Whenever Kılıçdaroğlu mentions the historical roots of the CHP, one immediately thinks of Mehmet Bekaroğlu, whom he brought from the National View (Milli Görüş), Hüseyin Aygün, whom he brought from the EMEP, Yüksel Taşkın, who wrote an article claiming Kemalism is fascism, and Orhan Sarıbal, who implied that Atatürk was a dictator and a mass murderer. Kılıçdaroğlu's choices show that there is no connection between being a revolutionary and being a "Dersimist"; on the contrary, they are opposites, and it is impossible for political consciousness to be compatible with feudalism.

The second shadow is the shadow of the DEM Party. Actually, there is no need to struggle much to get rid of this shadow. It is enough to understand what identity politics, which is an apparatus of imperialism, is, and to see who the PKK terrorist organization, another apparatus of imperialism, serves, in order to get rid of the DEM Party shadow. The DEM Party's loyalty to US imperialism, alongside the multitude of its figures who say, "We requested a role from the US in the solution of the Kurdish issue," and its acting like a de facto partner of the People's Alliance in the new "opening" process, is certainly remarkable. It is important to get rid of the tutelage of this racist, reactionary, and ethnicist party that does not include the concept of class, the concepts of labor and equality, the concepts of enlightenment and independence, or the struggle against imperialism in its vocabulary.

The third shadow, closely related to the second, is the shadow of identity politics. It is mandatory to get rid of this ignorance that mistakes ethnicism for Marxism, sectarianism for communism, and localism for socialism. It is necessary to insistently and stubbornly explain, make understood, and teach that being a leftist, a revolutionary, a patriot, or a Republican has nothing to do with one's birthplace, and has nothing to do with the sect or ethnic identity you were born into or inherited from your parents. Because as a Republican or a leftist, one must look at issues and problems not with molds like the eyes of a Kurd, the words of an Alevi, the window of a Dersimli, the voice of a Laz or a Circassian, the perspective of a Shiite, or the viewpoint of a Sunni, and not with remnants of feudalism or medieval affiliations, belongings, and identities, but with the identity of a citizen and through the lens of class. While emphasizing that it is impossible to create a pioneer of democracy from Said Nursi, and underlining that a civil society leader cannot emerge from Sheikh Said, it is necessary to state with the same consistency, the same determination, the same courage, and the same logic that it is impossible to create a socialist leader from Seyit Rıza. One must never forget that in a Republic, there is no such thing as an Alevi nurse, a Kurdish unionist, a Sunni doctor, or a Kastamonu engineer; there are only citizens who provide public service and citizens who receive public service, and it is necessary to underline the identity of the laborer and class consciousness with thick lines.

The fourth shadow is the shadow of left-liberals and "fake" republicans. These people are quite influential in politics; they have a wide sphere of influence extending from the AKP to the CHP, from the DEM Party to professional organizations, bar associations, unions, medical chambers, and universities. They consist of lovers of the US and the EU. They call a Japanese person Japanese, a Russian person Russian, and a Frenchman French, but they cannot call a Turk a Turk. In their dictionary, there is English language and literature, but no Turkish language and literature. They say Turkish literature, they say "Turkiyeli" literature. In their language, there is Iranian cinema, but no Turkish cinema. They say Turkey cinema. Their numbers are few, but their influence is high. In the past, they were numerous in the newspapers Yeni Yüzyıl, Yeni Binyıl, Radikal, and the FETO publication Taraf. İletişim Publishing and Birikim magazine stand out as the flagships of this wing.

In summary, it is necessary to get rid of these shadows, spheres of influence, and tutelages, without ever forgetting that those who fight primarily and on the front lines against those who want to move Turkey from feudalism to federalism are the Republicans. To get rid of them, conceptual consciousness, ideological clarity, and political consistency are mandatory. Concretely, one must start by explaining what NATO, the attack and occupation apparatus of US imperialism, is.