The bitter truth: For a people without demands, every day is September 12

Tomorrow is the anniversary of September 12, and we are living in the present.

We are under an "Eylülist" (September 12-ist) regime that is still ongoing today and has become thoroughly Islamized: The Abdulhamid II regime.

We have a question today, and it is quite spicy: If politics is not also conducted to ensure that the poor masses transform their urgent needs into demands, then what is it for?

Why is nothing changing?

Because no people question the causes of poverty in a "free market economy" (fascism also rises upon such a market). They complain, and that is all. This is a state of consciousness, and it is brought in from the outside. Since the beginning of the 20th century, this is what the rich—that is, the owners of money, factories, etc.—have feared most: What if the people, the "rabble" in their eyes, transform their needs into demands?

In other words, what if the feet start thinking they can become the head...

The Islamists in Ankara are constantly testing this, almost every day, risking all kinds of lawlessness: Are the people turning their deprivations into demands, or are they living by the motto "what comes to pass must be endured"? They are measuring this incessantly. Because they are very afraid.

Any people who turn their fundamental rights into demands and declare that they can lead a better, equal, and free life—and that the existing establishment must be changed if necessary to achieve this—shakes the regime severely. Unless these demands are voiced loudly and a mass base is formed in the streets, factories, markets, schools, hospitals, public institutions, and companies, the coalition formed by the new Islamist billionaires with the secular billionaires will continue.

Was that too harsh?

Do not think so. After all, this is not a scene unique to Turkey.

TURKEY IS A PART OF—AND THE ANTITHESIS OF—"GERMAN EUROPE"

There are similar problems or gaps in the German Europe to which Ankara has been primarily and deeply tied for at least 50 years. We frequently mention this here.

Let us look at ourselves: Unfortunately, the "reasonable opposition" (CHP, Yeni Parti, DEM, TİP, EMEP, etc.), which tries to appear as if it is leftist, is "reasonable" precisely because it does not do this. Naturally, that is why Ankara's Islamist politics can run wild as it pleases.

In fact, it is a general situation: Does politics start from demands, or from needs? Does politics create demands, or needs?

We are facing two "styles of politics."

The first is for society to adopt the demands defined by the ruling and rampant wealthy minority. This form of politics takes those "so-called demands" that barely touch the fundamental and urgent needs of the people as its basis and propagates them. Parliamentary democracy, the constitution, problems in the separation of powers, the independence of the central bank, continental shelf issues, etc., are all such "demands." Here, "managing the situation" is at play. That is, instead of radical solutions, it is about running things safely to save the day and the government, and glossing over real solutions... The translation of this into the present day is the continuation of the AKP regime, an extension of September 12.

The other style, which is the "dangerous" one, takes the urgent needs and future of the 90-95 percent of the population that cannot turn into a demand as its basis, defines those needs, and makes demands for those needs to be met. It tries to "transform" those needs into demands in a way that society will embrace so that they can be met urgently.

Is a people who have demands and voice them on every platform not the greatest threat in a free market economy and democracy (including new-age fascisms)? It is.

It seems that the Islamist government in Turkey, which had a GDP of 1.5 trillion dollars as of last year, and its "reasonable opposition" are on duty to prevent this threat. We can say something similar for European Germany, which had a GDP of 4.8 trillion dollars as of last year, and its "reasonable opposition" candidates.

The summary of the summary: Our people without demands have surrendered to the Abdulhamid II regime as a hardened Islamist version of September 12.

Needs must be transformed into demands, and these demands must be voiced by the people.

The situation is dire, but not hopeless. Because Turkey is a political geography that has always contained surprises. We also see that the Enlightenment yeast has taken hold. One can proceed from here.

We are not the ones who should be afraid.