By ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ (GREEK) TÜRKÇE (TURKISH)
The words of the century were once again uttered by President Erdoğan:
“They build military bases, we build political bases…”
It seems that “Turkish politics” is newly discovering the value of a “political base”…
That’s why the pulses were beating a little different this year…
There was a different kind of excitement…
There were more “guests” around than usual…
It was the wisest choice to pull aside on the roads where cars with “DM” licence plates passed by with the sirens on… [Editor’s note: reference to official vehicles transporting high-profile visitors]
Describing the war 50 years ago, old soldiers with kalpaks and their chests adorned with medals of sorts, were the centre of attention.
It was a real “operation”. Both militarily, and politically, in every respect…
The official planes of the Turkish state were filled with “guests”…
Helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, combat drones, jets leaving traces of red smoke in the sky…
Tanks, heavy weapons, artilleries on the ground…
Turkey really and fully embraced the 20th July…
The opposition, the main opposition, the government, the media were all shoulder to shoulder…
The President of the Republic of Turkey demonstrated another “political skill” by taking a step into a “detente” period with his own “opposition” through Cyprus…
“I find value in the picture of unity, alliance and solidarity demonstrated by the ruling party and the opposition,” he said on the plane, on his way back to his country.
Indeed, the “nationalist outlook” endorsed by the new chairperson of CHP [Republican People’s Party] attached a completely different “meaning” to 20th July…
Although the late Bülent Ecevit had said, “We are going there to bring peace” when the Turkish troops landed in Cyprus, 50 years later, his party enjoyed showing up on these lands with a crowd blessing not “peace” but “war”.
The late Ecevit never tried to “capitalise” on the operation, which the world described as an “invasion and occupation”, through the use of “military” symbols…
On the contrary, he preferred to say “This is a limited operation” and soften the suffocating feel of a war.
I guess he, like Mr. Erdoğan, believed that “there are no winners in war”, but he never thought that his party could present “profiting from war” as a “national policy”, 50 years on.
Truthfully, I have always wondered about the “political benefits” of CHP in forming “unity, alliance and solidarity” with AKP [Justice and Development Party]…
Does approving AKP’s “policies” by saying, “Cyprus is our national cause”, and presenting a bad “copy” of its actions to the public bring votes?
Was the CHP “involved” when AKP was “changing its axis” on the Cyprus issue?
Did anyone discuss with [CHP] the “politics” of this? Did anyone ask its opinion?
Of course not…
But what did the CHP do? It supported AKP’s policies, advocating “two states”. It accepted that the AKP determines the “national policy”. Kılıçdaroğlu was even afraid to meet Akıncı when he visited Cyprus…
Özgür Özel, who replaced him, did the same… He preferred to meet with “hawks” with no grassroots support.
In short, CHP updated its old “conservatism” on Cyprus with the “benefits” of 20th July…
Instead of taking a stance that is “diametrically opposed” to the AKP, it chose to be on its tail.
Instead of questioning AKP’s “shift of axis”, he adapted to its changing “politics”…
While doing that, he said, “When we are abroad, we are the political party of Turkey.”
However, the CHP should have demonstrated its strongest opposition over Cyprus…
The AKP should have been attacked for changing policies at the drop of a hat…
He had to show that he did not accept AKP’s interference in the internal politics of the north…
He should have had the “courage” to openly state that a “national cause” cannot be defined by what comes out of one person’s mouth, that the official Cyprus policy of the Turkish state is based on the “federation” thesis, and that it cannot change just because a political party wants it to…
He didn’t… He couldn’t…
In an area where he could not “compete” with the AKP, he tried to gain a “bonus” on the grounds of “nationalism”, and to use Cyprus and 20th July as a “lever” in “political” terms.
He imagined this as the “arena” to take a step forward in politics.
He said, “I will go to Cyprus even if Erdoğan does not invite me”.
He came but by surrendering to the “AKP discourses”…
With Erdoğan’s style and his slogans…
Instead of saying “Turkish Cypriots”, he used the term “Turks of Cyprus” on billboards.
I wonder if Özgür Özel, who did not mention “federation”, a thesis that belonged to Ecevit and CHP, will receive votes from constituents in Turkey because he became a figure on the “solidarity table” with AKP?
Or, will the votes flow to CHP as it applauds Erdoğan’s words, “You cannot step in the same water twice. Ignoring the realities on the island will lead nowhere. We believe that a federal solution is not possible in Cyprus.”
The “role” of Özgür Özel in the 20th July “operation” will of course be evaluated within the party. However, it was not nice that the Turkish Ambassador, [Metin] Feyzioğlu, did not greet him upon his arrival in Cyprus.
Just when it was declared that the current federal status in Cyprus was invalid and that “two-states” were the only way out in the “resolution” approved by the Turkish Grand National Assembly in the absence of any negotiations…
The fact that Özgür Özel was not officially greeted seemed to me like a “trap” set up for CHP…
Instead of debating who Özgür Özel chose and did not choose to meet, the fact that the Turkish Ambassador did not “take any notice of him” came to the fore in the CHP media…
Images of the “protocol” created on this land by those who came to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 20th July, “collectively” and “together”, have engraved in our minds that Turkey is not after a solution, but instead the preservation of the status quo with great “determination”.
What else do we need?
Source: AS NORTH CYPRUS TURNS INTO THE “POLITICAL BASE” OF AKP…
