Leave Kılıçdaroğlu alone
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is again wrestling with inter-party fights.
The veterans attempt to hold onto it persistently. Their aim is neither internal democracy nor strengthening the party. Their aim is to topple leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu at all costs, or to wear him out to such an extent that he collapses.
I guess the opposition is not aware of this fact: That is, with this attitude of theirs they are not only harming the CHP, but they are also inflicting a severe impact on this country’s democracy.
Really, it is enough.
The party is not able to get rid of old mentalities, old teams. Those who have lost elections do not keep quiet and vacate their places for newcomers. On the contrary, they continue with their attritional policies.
If the CHP is still not able to stand up today, one of the most important obstacles to this is such domestic disputes. As long as these internal disputes continue, the opposition fails to fulfill its duties.
Nobody should complain that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) is becoming too strong. If you cannot fulfill your duties as the opposition it becomes inevitable that there will be a shift toward a one-party regime.
Now, leave Kılıçdaroğlu alone. Allow him to form his own team and walk on his own path. If he cannot succeed, then the party should look for a new leader for itself.
The CHP’s congresses and constant internal disputes are done to death.
[HH] Patriarch’s definition of Turkishness
During this week Parliament, maybe for the first time, listened to representatives of our “minorities.” Their views were consulted on the new constitution. For a long time we failed to understand that our minorities enriched our culture, polished our vision. We started looking after them during the AK Parti’s rule, and we hit the correct path.
What attracted my attention most in the meeting in Parliament was how the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew defined Turkishness. He summed it up in one sentence, the definition that we have been fighting over for years: “Anybody who is connected to the Turkish State with the bond of citizenship is a Turk, regardless of his or her religion, sect, language or ethnic background.”
Can there be a better definition, any other definition that embraces everybody who lives in this country?
Patriarch Bartholomew has come up with a more embracing approach than us.
[HH] Academics cry for the historic peninsula
Fifty-three academics have protested negligence over the protection of Byzantium artifacts in the “historic peninsula.” The most recent example was the construction of a hotel over historic Byzantine and pre-Byzantine walls. The construction was stopped after it was built up to the 5th floor. The Ministry of Culture and the Fatih Municipality issued a demolition order Feb. 8.
This is only one bitter example. Underneath the historic peninsula, it is all together Byzantium. Who knows what other constructions escape scrutiny?
We are boasting that we have “conquered” it, but we have not been able to protect this magnificent world heritage properly.
If only we could learn how to protect it…
