Responsibility that shrinks as the crisis grows... The government has found the culprit for the fund crisis

The bill for the fund scandal is being pinned on "foreign powers" again, just as it is in every development where the government finds itself in trouble. Yet the real issue is not outside, but inside. We all know this very well, especially those responsible. 

The reflex of political powers in moments of crisis is the most honest mirror of their management approach. In Turkey, the same scenario has been playing out for years. When a structural problem or a severe crisis erupts, responsibility is never taken; the bill is immediately and very methodically, yet with equally rote rhetoric, pinned on a convenient external address.

The suspects presented to the public never change either... FETÖ, "foreign powers," and Israel.

However, when these discourses are placed side-by-side with recent history, they collapse like a house of cards.

The memory of how the FETÖ structure, which is pointed to in every setback today, grew within the state, who it had close relations with, and how it was fattened, remains crystal clear in our minds... 

The inviting calls and praise-filled words of today's prominent government figures directed at the leader of that structure still ring in our ears. Their high-level representation at the Turkish Olympiads is also in the archives... Presenting a structure for which they cut bank opening ribbons together, laid the groundwork for its growth, and gave whatever they asked for, as the culprit for everything later on is an effective way for the government to escape responsibility.

And then there is Israel... Whenever the government gets into a tight spot, a polemic erupts, and suddenly the agenda changes, with comparisons between Israel and the army being made on TV screens. While anti-Israel rallies are organized, trade ships continue to glide gracefully across the Mediterranean toward their destination. 

I would like to share a memory to explain the media aspect of this state of mind of the government—that is, the mechanism of projection, creating scapegoats, and blaming other structures.

It was one of the most instructive moments of my twenty-six-year journalism career. It would be more accurate to call it a 'reality' I heard firsthand rather than just a memory.

During my time as editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet.com.tr, an editor I was interviewing for a job said they could not accept my offer. When I asked why, they made a striking self-criticism. They confessed that they had worked for a media organization close to the government for five years, and during this process, their professional perception had been distorted and they had lost their objective perspective.

According to what they described, the entire narrative in the newsroom was built on praising the government. Negative news was obscured as much as possible and not presented to the reader; when a crisis or crises reached a scale that could not be hidden, a culprit was always found and the bill was pinned on them.

In short, the government was the owner of every good thing and every development. The bad things, however, never belonged to the government. In fact, these were plots targeting the government.   

When someone from inside the kitchen described this operation that we watched from the outside, the picture became even clearer. It was interesting to hear a fact we already knew firsthand. It was as if the information had been riveted in my mind, taking on flesh and bone.

And today... The biggest scandal, corruption, and theft in our country's history has occurred. The stock market and fund scandal has left the entire country of Turkey facing a financial earthquake.

The numbers are clear.

The total value loss of companies traded on the stock exchange has reached around 180 billion dollars. The fund crisis directly victimized 500 thousand citizens and indirectly affected approximately 3 million. It is inevitable that the reflections of this on the real economy will affect millions of lives.

The explanation presented to the public by certain people after such devastation is familiar: "Israel carried out a financial coup."

Well, let's accept this claim as true for a moment. Then there are four questions that need to be answered.

First, foresight. Is it not the primary duty of those who govern the state to foresee such threats and take precautions? Would leaving the economy open and vulnerable to external operations not be an admission of management weakness in itself?

Second, networks of relationships. If the fund scandal is truly an external operation, where do former minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, whose name is mentioned in the public eye regarding this process and the allegations, and other related political actors stand in this equation? Why did the steps taken after weeks had passed since the crisis and some names had been arrested come so late? Will the investigation extend to other related political names? Or are these names working for Israel?

Third, parliamentary oversight. If there is a financial coup threatening national security, why were the research motions submitted to shed light on all its dimensions rejected by the votes of the government? Why would those in power, who are not uncomfortable with the truth coming out, shy away from a research commission? If there is a financial coup by foreign powers, let Parliament investigate and find it, right? Moreover, wouldn't Erdoğan want this the most? After all, didn't he just say the other day, "There is a reality. You look and see that people you never expected have gotten involved in these things. We will clean our capital markets of this microbe"?

Fourth, the fate of those who warned. Why were the CMB (SPK) members who allegedly expressed opinions against the public offering of Tera dismissed? According to the allegation, who were those who purged the bureaucrats who pointed out the approaching danger? If the process is an external operation, how will the responsibility of those who disabled the alarm system be explained?

Economic crises and financial scandals produce consequences that are too concrete to be covered up by a construct of an abstract external enemy. When the savings of millions of citizens and the country's economic future are at stake, the answer cannot be sought in bombastic speeches. This file will not be closed with whitewashing videos served in an organized manner on social media either. The answer can only be found in transparent oversight, an independent judicial process, and objective answers to the questions above.

It is easy to look for an enemy outside; what is difficult is looking in the mirror... How strange it is that they are even trying to extract a heroic story from the robbery of the century.

Then let us warn the entire public, especially the victims: Do not fall for these tricks. The ones who committed the scandal, organized it, got rich, fled, were smuggled out, the plan, the system, and the millions condemned to poverty... Everything is out in the open. Of course, for eyes that see and want to see.