There is only one party that works for the entire nation's education, health and welfare, not for those of a certain segment: the CHP. There is only one party that always takes sides with the republic and the people and that carries this pretension even in its name: the CHP. The only party in these historic elections that will be able to bring the country to a bright future, that will meet people's expectations with its tangible projects and vision, and that will establish a strong and resolute government is also the CHP. This time the republic will win! This time people will win! Turkey will win with the CHP!" The above paragraph is from an advertisement the CHP gave to newspapers as a part of its election campaign. These sentences, which pass off the stress on democracy and which monopolize "claiming the republic," are sufficient to make us understand the "otherizing" mindset of the CHP. And this is the greatest danger and threat before Turkish democracy. If this is not a bigoted mindset based on the claim that "the republic will lose" in the event people vote for other parties -- even though the word "people" is part of this party's name -- what is it?
But I must confess that the CHP image reflected in this election advertisement fits in perfectly with the totalitarian and despotic image determined by the policies adopted recently by this party. This is the mindset of a party that doesn't consider those not supporting them as people, that polarizes people for political gain and that works to establish a single-party system with the power of bureaucracy. And this is the mindset that easily portrays those not like them as the enemies of secularism, the regime and the republic, that belittles and doesn't trust ordinary people.
The claims made about health, education and the economy in the advertisement are nothing more than hollow words because what makes the CHP the CHP has never been the service or enhancements they have presented to the people; on the contrary, it has been, as the CHP reveals in its advertisement, regime guardianship, the exploitation of secularism and the adoption a discriminatory attitude toward people.
This identity of the CHP must by now have been noticed by international circles since this allegedly leftist party's loyalty to democracy has been put under the magnifying glass by the Socialist International (SI). Particularly because of the anti-democratic attitude it adopted in the inconclusive presidential election and its policies that back military interventions, even the SI, the most competent formation in this field, has started to question to what extent the CHP is in compliance with democratic and leftist standards.
It is meaningful enough that the SI, one of whose vice presidents is ironically CHP leader Deniz Baykal, has initiated a process that may well result in the expulsion of the CHP owing to its betrayal of democracy. And to what extent the CHP is loyal to the principles of "attachment to democracy, respect of human rights, progressivism, opposition to military interventions and not establishing a coalition with nationalist parties," which are written in the platform of the SI, is as obvious as daylight.
The CHP's plans in particular to establish a coalition with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) if it can enter Parliament in the July 22 elections will make it even more difficult for the CHP to emerge from this investigative process intact. A similar process launched by the SI about the Socialna Democracia party (SMER) of Slovakia ended in the party's expulsion. No one can claim that a better fate than this awaits the CHP if a healthy investigation is conducted.
In his article in the Zaman newspaper, Şahin Alpay, by summarizing the article of Swedish social democrat Morgan Johansson, demonstrated very well how European social democrats view the CHP. Let's see what Johansson says about the CHP in Alpay's article, titled "CHP must be expelled from SI," where he often quoted Johansson:
"Turkey has been governed by a party whose roots lie in Political Islam for a few years. You may hold any sort of view on religion-based parties; however the AK Party has run the country well. It has succeeded in the negotiations with the EU, and in the fields of human rights and development. The AK Party is a party far from being extremely Islamist, it is broadminded and respects different ideas; also its views on social policies are close to social democracy. The chief architects of its success are Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül. When the AK Party failed to get Gül elected president, the elections became compulsory. The election had been expected to be held in accordance with the rules in the Constitution. However, the main opposition party, the CHP which calls itself social democrat and which has been a member to the SI for a few years, obstructed the elections. And the Armed Forces also threatened to intervene in the election process."
"The threat that came from the military should have been received in a reactive way by all politicians. However, leader of the CHP Deniz Baykal invited the military intervention to expel the AK Party from the government. This behavior of Baykal's was met with harsh criticisms by the most rightist to the most leftist Turkish media and intellectuals alike. The public opinion surveys indicate that the AK Party will get 40 percent of the votes while the CHP will get 20 percent and the extremely nationalist MHP 10 percent. Nationalist themes are dominant in political campaigns. The CHP, defending a military incursion into northern Iraq, is not hiding its intention to establish a coalition with the MHP."
"We are face to face with a 'social democrat' party, which sabotaged the presidential elections in Turkey, invites military interventions and which is preparing to turn its back to Europe by striking a partnership with extremely nationalists and to occupy a country. None of these are acceptable. The CHP overstepped the tolerance limits of the Socialist International long ago; for this reason it should be expelled from the family of social democrat parties."
