‘Wise people’ face conflicted opposition

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, who leads the Wise People Commission’s Marmara region group, complains with the lack of a dialogue with opposition in their meetings. AA photo

Wise People Commission members have had a difficult time discussing issues with different strands of thought due to the nature of the protests during their meetings, where opposing crowds end up being driven out, leaving only Justice and Development (AKP) and Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) supporters behind, according to the Marmara region’s group president Deniz Ülke Arıboğan.

The head of groups gathered for a meeting with the editors of state-run Anatolia news agency, where they shared their experiences and the reactions that came from the people of the various regions in the past month. 

Arıboğan stressed the commission members’ desire to listen to supporters of all parties; however, demonstrators, mostly Workers’ Party supporters, usually get in the way when they block the progression of the meetings. 

“We then have to take them out, and we are left only with AKP and BDP supporters. That seems to be our biggest problem,” Ülke Arıboğan said.
People approach the unknown negatively, Ülke Arıboğan added, which could explain their attitude toward the commission, which they mostly view as “an area where they can release all their anger.” 

‘An attitude that terrorizes democracy’ 

Aegean group head Tarhan Erdem also said the protests, mostly sparked by Workers’ Party or nationalist groups, sometimes edged on “an attitude that terrorized democracy.” 

The protests mostly come from a localized opposition that focuses on a few names, Central Anatolia group head Ahmet Taşgetiren added, saying that sometimes all forms of opposing opinions merged together in an attempt to protest against the Wise People.