The People's Assembly of Turkey (THTM) held a widely attended forum in Ankara as part of the meetings organized under the title "How Will We Win the Republic?" in the lead-up to October 29.
The meeting, held on October 23 at the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers Culture Center, was attended by academics, legal experts, journalists, and writers who are components of the Republican Congress. The forum was moderated by Hülya Küçükaras.
Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu, Gamze Yücesan Özdemir, Emrah Maraşo, Ali Rıza Aydın, Erhan Nalçacı, Ali Ufuk Arikan, and Kaan Eroğuz served as speakers at the event. In the speeches, the historical meaning of the republic, secularism, the labor struggle, financial markets, the risk of war, popular democracy, the Kurdish issue, and new constitution debates were evaluated under different headings.
EMPHASIS ON SECULARISM AND ORGANIZATION
Former judge and founding president of YARSAV, Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu, stated that the social influence of religious sects increases during periods when the freedom of organization weakens. Eminağaoğlu stated that secularism is directly linked to the question of who holds sovereignty, and expressed that strengthening social organization would narrow the space for these sects.
Academic Prof. Dr. Gamze Yücesan Özdemir emphasized that the debate on the republic must be addressed alongside the living conditions of the working classes. Yücesan stated that the rollback of secularism, the erosion of public education, the marketization of healthcare, and the weakening of social rights are among the fundamental threats to the working people.
Gazete Bilim Editor-in-Chief Emrah Maraşo touched upon the historical course of the concept of democracy in Turkey and said that the republic was founded with an anti-imperialist popular will. Maraşo argued that the ballot box and constitutional gains can only be protected through a strong populist policy.
FUND CRISIS, WAR RISK, AND CONSTITUTION DEBATES
Legal expert and former Constitutional Court rapporteur Ali Rıza Aydın described the recent fund scandals as one of the crises of the capitalist order. Aydın stated that the "bubbles" created through financial markets transfer resources collected from the public in favor of capital, and said that the debate on the republic must be addressed together with the system of exploitation.
THTM founding member Prof. Dr. Erhan Nalçacı included the danger of war and an emphasis on anti-imperialism in his speech. Nalçacı stated that one of the fundamental criteria of republicanism is to stand against the country being dragged into imperialist war plans.
Journalist Ali Ufuk Arikan evaluated the Kurdish issue and the new solution process debates. Arikan stated that republicans cannot be enemies of any people, pointing to the common struggle of the working people.
Socialist Culture Editorial Board member Kaan Eroğuz also addressed the new constitution debates. Eroğuz stated that the gains of the republic have been largely destroyed, expressing that the issue should now be discussed under the heading of "re-winning" rather than just "protecting."
Following the speeches, the event continued with a question-and-answer session. The forum concluded with the evaluations of the participants and a call for a common struggle to re-win the republic.
News Source: 12punto
