Elections in Turkey
In a couple of hours, the Turks will start heading to the polls to elect a new parliament. As you might have heard by now, the election is considered crucial for the future of the country. In this election the Turks will decide whether the current AKP government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will continue its rule as a single party government or not.
The AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, Justice and Development Party) has become an issue in Turkey due to the Islamist background of its founders. The party leaders have described the AKP as a party of the center right, but the secularists remain skeptic about its aims. They believe that the AKP has a hidden agenda and simply uses democracy as a tool to achieve its ultimate goal: an Islamic state.
The main opponents of the AKP are the secularists of the CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, Republican People's Party), the party established by Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The CHP holds the label "leftist" but is not really leftist in its policies. I personally do not find the CHP really interesting. They are too rigid in their ideology and simply too nationalist.
Interesting, however, are two independent candidates. I'm talking about Baskın Oran, professor at the University of Ankara, and Ufuk Uras, former chairman of ÖDP (Özgürlük ve Dayanışma Partisi, Freedom and Solidarity Party) and professor at the University of Istanbul. These two men represent the small liberal leftist community in Turkey. I'm not sure whether they will be elected, but if they will be, I'm sure they will contribute a lot to Turkey. Pay attention to these two names!
A useful Q&A about the election is provided by Al Jazeera, for those who wish to get more background information.
1 Comment:
Mr.Ponentin,
First of all, It is obvious that you have observed the Turkish politics from what Western-based lobbies (like Free Masons etc) have been offering to ordinary Turkish men and women via "Mediums". many lobbies want people like all the damn world to think similar, to act similar and to "categorize" as some Westerners categorize the people into subcategories. What lobbies want is to help the society thinking everything as different.
By the way, what you say about CHP (Republican People's Party) is, to some extent, true. Their so-called "Leftist" point of view is molded into "half-statue quo wannabes and half-progressive"
About minor parties like ÖDP and DEHAP, it is impossible for such parties to gain enough votes to have a sound voice in the Parliament due to "Medium" descriptors and navigators. Here, people are to be herded. :)
I know I sound like a stereotypical Turkish man who thinks everything "bad" is Western-based. Turks lack self-criticism, too. I hope I do not offend you with my ideas.
With Respect,
Volkan GULUM
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