Syria and the new refugee crisis on the agenda at the Turkish Grand National Assembly: 'The vast majority will not leave'

The Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) convened under the chairmanship of Numan Kurtulmuş. Deliberations are being held in the General Assembly on the entire 2025 Central Government Budget Law Proposal and the 2023 Central Government Final Account Law Proposal. DEM Party Group Deputy Chair Sezai Temelli stated the following:

"A BUDGET OF FASCISM"

"The way you prepare a budget shows how much you have democratized. Can you look here today and speak of a democratic country? Can you say you are making a budget just by looking at a budget marathon that only meets formal requirements? We do not see a hopeful situation at all. When you look at this budget, what do you see in the name of justice? You see the Ministry of Justice's prison investments. The 2025 budget is, first and foremost, a stable budget. The stability of making the same budgets for 23 years. You are incredibly stable in this regard. There is no stability anywhere else, but your budget-making process is stable. You are tightly bound to the neoliberal mindset, and in the end, you have arrived at a neo-fascist place. When you call it a budget of fascism, it is impossible to see a better example than this. 

During the AKP era, according to the best estimates, 1 trillion dollars have been allocated to a security-oriented approach and the war industry. We know that over 4 trillion dollars of resources from the Turkish economy have been allocated to this over the last 40-plus years. This year, you have allocated 47 billion dollars just in the budget. You have a myopic budget. It can neither see far nor look ahead in time. It only looks at where it stands. You sold off everything this country had through privatization. There is an economy that has not been able to escape the exchange rate-interest rate spiral. You cannot run a mill with water brought from elsewhere. Turkey's debt-to-GDP ratio is low. If this is something to boast about, let us boast. In those countries you hold up as examples, inflation and unemployment are below 5 percent. Your debt is low because you fund capital, not because you think of the public's benefit.

"A CRISIS AWAITS US IN 2025"

Inflation is rising again, but while you were managing to lower inflation through TUIK during the minimum wage negotiations, you cannot even do that this time. A crisis awaits us in 2025. You first used the concept of the 'Century of Turkey' during the resolution process. In those days, you were saying that the per capita national income would be 25 thousand dollars. You overturned the table; now it is at the 12 thousand 500 dollar level. It is like this because of the dollar you are suppressing; otherwise, it would be 9 thousand dollars. Those who form alliances with this oligarchic mind cannot produce this solution. Today, when we look at it through the lens of surplus value, there is a colonialist mind. The reason for the inability to solve the Kurdish issue, the inability of the republic to democratize, and the inability to fight poverty is this colonial mind. We must look from a perspective that reflects public preferences in the budget.

"REMOVE AND DISCARD THIS"

When talking about peace, an issue is described as if the Kurdish people and the Turkish people have started a fight. No, there is no fight between the Kurdish people and the Turkish people in Turkey. There is none in Syria or Iraq either. But governments have a fight with society. They try to hide their own fights by dynamiting social peace because governments are alien to the people. There is no problem with the Kurdish and Turkish people in a common homeland, in their destiny, or in their future, but there is a serious problem in your minds. We will definitely overcome this problem. This red book is a National Security Council (MGK) mind, a coup mind. Why are you renewing this? Remove and discard it so that society can make its own constitution and budget based on its own consensus. You want to overcome the crisis of representation by reducing representation. You have no tolerance for political parties or co-chairmanship. This is the reason you accuse our municipal co-chairs. You do not even have tolerance for structures where women's representation is provided equally.

"A NEW REFUGEE CRISIS IS AT THE DOOR"

From the moment we left the bipolar world, a new world's own war algorithm actually began to form. They placed terrorism into the concept set. Is Turkey's future important to you, or the future of the imperialists? Let us update domestic and foreign policy. Let us remove terrorism from our concept set. Let us look back at the reality of Rojava. Let us try to understand how valuable the secular life and the existing democracy there are. Today, the right place is Rojava. If you look at this from their agenda, if you say let us rebuild Syria, you will fall into that trap. This great risk at your door is war. Listen to us; we are not a party that has surrendered its mind to the West; we are a Middle Eastern party. Everyone thinks the refugees will go back, but a new refugee crisis is at the door. If the conflict continues, if there is a Syria that has not democratized, and if you support jihadist policies, have no doubt that a refugee crisis is at your door. The vast majority of the refugees here will not leave.

"WE MUST MAKE A PARTICIPATORY BUDGET"

If you are boasting about democratic countries, do what is necessary. You are trying to play at democracy with an authoritarian regime. This only exacerbates crises. We say let us solve the Kurdish issue, and you appoint trustees. What kind of democracy program can you have where you appoint trustees? We must make a participatory budget; we must bring democracy to life. The budget should not be made only here; local democracy must be placed in the place of honor. Such a budget would not only solve the Kurdish issue but also solve the problems of the economy. Both the Kurdish issue and the solution to the economy are interconnected issues. Look at the unemployment map; Kurdish provinces are in the top 10, and in poverty, they are in the top 10. You have found the easy way out: 'terrorism'.  

How much of a raise will you give to the minimum wage? You need to give at least 44 percent. Are you not increasing all taxes by 44 percent? Then wages should also increase. If we cannot even establish this chain of logic, woe to us. The way to solve this is to democratize the budget and make it inclusive. The budget should include the disabled; you should be ashamed of your social assistance of 7 thousand 500 liras. You must feminize the budget; you must show respect for nature. You must make the budget a budget for the laborers. When you make a budget for the people, not for the elites, men, and capital, the budget and the country can democratize. We must answer where to start. It must start from Imralı; it is that clear. If this whole story starts from there, only then can the expectations of society be met. Mr. Öcalan is watching us; I say that we are ready. I call out to all parties; please prepare yourselves as soon as possible."

News Source: 12punto