This is bound to end on Nov 2
They are asking me how I can be so sure and what I am basing my hopes on.
I am basing them on what every person in his right mind, who lives in this country, thinks and feels.
What does the collective voice that belongs to all of us say? It says, “This country cannot be ruled as such anymore.”
My issue is not which party will win how many seats in the parliament, or whether the Justice and Development Party (AKP) will win enough seats to obtain one-party rule… It is quite impossible, but let us assume it wins 277 deputies. What will happen?
Will he continue to rule the country as if he were an executive president in a presidential system, neglecting the constitution and refusing to be accountable?
While no party has a majority in the elections, will he again have the power to force a new election?
Will he be able to maintain his one-party, one-man rule by seizing newspapers and televisions and citizens’ private property with force?
Will he be able to continue to give state tenders to anyone he wishes to, to this and that, to a brother-in-law and to relatives?
Will he be able to survive by managing the Kurdish issue with security-minded policies, by declaring states of emergency in cities and districts?
Will he be able to insist on playing with fire in the Middle East, in shaping foreign policy and policies on Syria and Egypt – on which he is now completely alone in the world – according to his own personal ambitions?
Will he be able to carry this much hatred for 60 percent of the country, for years?
Will he be able to keep up this photograph of Turkey, which is transforming into a miserable Middle Eastern dictatorship with every passing day?
No… This will not go on… This cannot go on…
It cannot go on even if he has the sufficient majority for a one-party rule…
This is why I am saying that on the night of Nov. 1, an era is coming to an end…
What does this call mean?
The president called Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader about the attack on the party. What was his sentiment, I wonder. Was it just a routine, simple call for show? Or is it a sign of a new vision for the morning of Nov. 2?
I hope this is the first sign of a more realistic and conciliatory vision for the morning of Nov. 2. I hope it is shows that the president has now acclimatized himself to a possible coalition with the CHP. I want to keep my hope, because if the president withdraws to his constitutional borders and interprets the national will that comes out of the elections properly, the road to normalization will remain open.
Declaring a state of emergency with a minority government
This diagnosis has been made by İzmir Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu. He said, “An unnamed state of emergency has been declared in Turkey.”
Yes, this is what has been done.
Continuing a merciless campaign of slander against the Doğan Group, seizing the İpek Media Group, jailing anyone who slightly raises an eyebrow on the grounds of “insulting the president,” intimidating businessmen, sending finance inspectors to whoever raises their heads, helping trolls, pouring the sewage of the pool media on the disliked… Imagine that a government with 40 percent of the votes is doing that… Its name is supposedly the election government. But it does not even have the public’s support…
Where do this nerve and this daring come from?