If he was not a politician requesting votes from the people, we would say “it is up to him” and get over it, but we cannot do this since he has engaged in a campaign to solve the headscarf issue after realizing his party’s rupture with people having religious sensitivities. Though his headscarf attempt stopped half way, it also made the issue become a normal matter of discussion.
Kılıçdaroğlu went even one step further and said his decision to boycott the President’s Republic Day reception had nothing to do with the First Lady’s headscarf. We all knew that Kılıçdaroğlu’s absence at the event was because of the headscarf, but for the CHP leader to say that it was not in fact a “boycott” can be perceived as respect to people’s sensitivities.
Currently, it seems difficult for the CHP to take a step until the military changes its stance on the matter because the CHP continues its tradition of acting as an extension of Turkey’s civilian-military bureaucracy. The General Staff indicated its stance against the headscarf with its Republic Day circular according to which military officers were ordered “to leave all receptions without being noticed” whenever they see a headscarved invitee at the venue. Obeying this circular, Kılıçdaroğlu did not attend the reception at the presidential palace. And worse, the top military commanders didn’t attend the reception, disobeying the instruction of the President, the Chief Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
Instead, they organized an alternative reception; so much for Turkey’s separation of powers. This crisis occurred in a week in which the Court of Auditors’ authority to audit the TSK was tampered with -- a sign there is still much to be done with regard to civilian-military relations. However, a more pressing issue must be solved: the civilianization of the CHP. The party is still in abeyance, expecting help and directions from the military. It simply cannot read the Turkey of the 2000s, and since it cannot become a civilian alternative it causes Turkey to be ruled by conservative parties all the time.
Turkey has never seen a self-proclaimed left wing alternative party come to power except for Bülent Ecevit’s fascinating rise in the 1970s. Turgut Özal’s Motherland Party (ANAP) lost power because of corruption and family scandals, so Süleyman Demirel became the alternative, not the Social Democratic People’s Party (SHP). This reality paved the way for Demirel to become a prime minister and then president. We now see that Demirel’s approach vis-à-vis the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is not much different than that of the CHP. Demirel managed to present himself as more civilian than the CHP because he knew this was the only way to receive votes from the people. All of the right-wing politicians including Demirel have been slapped by the military, and the people are uneasy because their will has always been disregarded. The CHP and its current administration lack the flexibility shown by Demirel. They try to defame Fethullah Gülen and the movement. The party cannot even see the role of Ecevit’s relationship with believers and the movement based on respect for him, enabling Ecevit to come to power in the 1990s.
We are passing through a time when the conservative trend is powerful. Yes, Turkey is growing and quickly developing. But, this does not mean it has surmounted every problem. A social democratic approach is necessary to deal with a wide array of problems from income distribution to the role of the Directorate of Religious Affairs. This is true because every nation feels the need for democratic balance. However, for this to happen in a civilian way does not seem to be possible because such an alternative cannot occur due to CHP’s insistence on remaining as a Kemalist-Statist party. In fact, the CHP needs to see at least one reality: If you are at odds with the world view of conservative people, you should not ridicule them. If you behave like this, then your votes will never exceed 25 percent, and you will continue to celebrate Republic Day on the streets.
