Al-Monitor
Aug 7 2014
OPPOSITION WARNS OF ‘WORST CASE SCENARIO’ IF ERDOGAN WINS
Author: Tulin Daloglu
Posted August 7, 2014
Turkey’s Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and the People’s Democracy
Party (HDP) are at the two opposite ends of the political spectrum in
this country. The former represents Turkish ultranationalism, while
the latter stands for Kurdish nationalism. They blame each other for
threatening the territorial integrity and the unity of this nation.
Yet, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s divisive sharp
tongue — even as a presidential candidate — has created the most
unusual bedfellows; these two opposing camps have united in their
perception that an Erdogan presidency poses a potential risk to the
country by sparking the fire of either a civil war or disintegration.
Speaking at a rally in support of presidential candidate Ekmeleddin
Ihsanoglu, MHP leader Devlet Bahceli warned Erdogan’s followers that
if the worst scenario becomes a reality, they will also have to accept
responsibility for not changing the country’s direction at the ballot
box at a much-needed time. “If the president of this country triggers
polarization, confrontation, forming cliques, if the president of this
country continues this strategy of tension triggering an ethnic based
division and sectarian segregation, and therefore aims to divide the
country as a whole, we will have to bear the result of this,” Bahceli
said on Aug. 5 in the Black Sea city of Karabuk. “This responsibility
will weigh on the shoulders of all those voting for the AKP [the ruling
Justice and Development Party].” Bahceli also stressed that until
Erdogan clears himself from the country’s biggest ever corruption
and bribery scandal, people should not vote him into the country’s
highest office. “Anger in the country is growing. May God forbid it,
but if this tension turns into fighting neither the AKP nor other
politicians will survive it.”
Selahattin Demirtas, HDP’s presidential candidate, agreed with
Bahceli on this note. “Our sects and ethnicities are not a matter
to be ashamed of. If this is the way God created us, this is how we
will live. No one has the right to question, or to make others boo us
because of this. If this state goes on with this mindset, we won’t get
only divided into two pieces, but into 50 pieces at the very least,
and those people speaking with that narrative will be responsible for
this end result,” he said on Aug. 5 in Van, a city in eastern Turkey.
On the same day, Erdogan said once again that it was the most
demeaning thing for him when rumors spread that his family has Armenian
antecedents. “How come this [presidential office] can not be occupied
by a Kurd, Turk, Laz, Armenian, but only by themselves! How come they
see this kind of a prerogative for themselves? This perception will
have to change. The issue is not whether we win that seat, but whoever
wins it won’t be able to peacefully occupy it. The one who wins that
seat won’t be able to point his finger at you, and order massacres,
or deaths.”
Demirtas said of his name, “Demirtas is not only the name of a Kurd,
but also a Turk, an Armenian and a Sunni. It is the name of those
killed at Roboski, and Soma.”
Like Bahceli, Demirtas also stressed multiple times the threat of
radical extremist groups such as the Islamic State (IS), which may
aim to create chaos in Turkey due to the Erdogan government’s reckless
policy of allowing these jihadists a free passage into Syria.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) leader, also concurs with both Bahceli and Demirtas. Stressing
that Turkey’s 49 Mosul consulate staff have been hostage at the hands
of IS since June 11, Kilicdaroglu said, “Have you ever heard Erdogan
speaking about this issue? No, because he does not want to anger IS.
It was him who supplied weapons to IS and to al-Qaeda. And now these
weapons are being used against Turkey and its citizens.” He added,
“I call on my people: If you want war, if you want our children to
be killed in wars in the Middle East, go and vote for Erdogan. But if
you want peace, if you want Turkey to help the Middle East to resolve
its problems, then vote for Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.”
Thus, all the opposition leaders warn Turkish citizens that an Erdogan
presidency will invite unprecedented risks and that nothing will be
business as usual. They stress that the prime minister’s divisive
and polarizing narrative — backed by Islamic ideology — encourages
radical Islamic groups to find breathing space in Turkey, which poses
a risk for the unity of the nation. While all that may be true, the
opposition, too, bears responsibility for not proving that they did
all they can to defeat Erdogan at the ballot box. The only thing they
do is to lament the threats the prime minister may pose to the country
without investing real time and effort to rally the people behind them.
While the AKP voters will be responsible for the potential unrest in
the country, the opposition will certainly not be free of its mischief
or burdens either.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/daloglu-opposition-infighting-presidential-elections-chp-mhp.html#