Fed up with fairy tales

Turkey is heading into a new and rather delicate period, with municipal, parliamentary and presidential, three important elections to be held in less than two years. In the meantime, a Kurdish opening will be continued and, if anyone still believes in it, a new constitution will be written. The government and the media in allegiance with the government apparently are haunted once again with the Serves syndrome. Some say it and accuse Germany and/or the “international interest rate lobby” of being behind the Gezi protests and other developments enraging the absolute ruler; most of them beat around the bush and only blame “foreign elements.”

Was it Angela Merkel or her associates who wanted to be autocratic, to tear down the Gezi Park and build in its place a mall with a mosque under the disguise of rebuilding an Ottoman-time barracks? Were they the ones who introduced tougher regulations against alcohol consumption? Were they indeed the tall, bold, bald and ever-angry man who said “irrespective how big a noise they [protestors] might create, we decided, we shall implement our decisions, they cannot deter us from our aims”? Or could Merkel and her associates be held responsible of the French girl who happened to be at a wrong place at a wrong time; arrested on charges of she was a spy; released by a court; but taken to a detention center for foreigners where for four days including being forced to take all her clothes was tortured by the Turkish police? Anyhow, how can that police be considered to have undertaken an “epic success” in quelling the Gezi Park demonstrations?

Or is Merkel the one who pulled the trigger that started the Lice incidents? What about narcotics or the fields full of all kinds of stuff used in the narcotics industry; increased anti-narcotics operations of the military? Why villagers all of a sudden became so angry with construction of new and stronger military outposts? Do they expect the state will agree to leave soldiers in shanty barracks at the mercy of terrorists? Have we all forgotten ambushes on military posts? But, where is Merkel in all these? Is she hiding somewhere?

All these problems are our own problems. Yes, foreign elements might exploit or try to exploit them in line with their own interests. Was not Turkey doing the same in some of our neighbors? Let’s be reasonable, the bottom line is that we have all these problems and these problems are aggravated by the ignorant and hegemonic style of the government. Look what the foreign minister was saying the other night; according to him Turkey has always allowed space for peaceful demonstrations and protests were dealt with when they became violent. After all that was exposed to the international community (thanks to international media as the domestic one was sufficiently frightened to remain mostly silent) how can someone make such a claim? Who was gassing people horrendously? Why did 18 people lose at least one of their eyes; why did five people lose their lives? Why did 820 civilians and a bigger number of policemen suffer injuries? Why did five policemen commit suicide and why, immediately after relocation ban was lifted, did almost 2000 Istanbul policemen ask to be posted elsewhere?

The terrorist gang is loyal to the Kurdish opening but Merkel is provoking people… What a mentality! Can a bird fly in Lice without the knowledge of the gang? No? How could it be that the gang was not responsible for the villagers’ attack on the military post construction? How could it be that the villager killed and many others wounded were all hit in the back?

Come on, stop trying to fool people with fairy tales. It smells bad, very bad.