There is a segment of the country that fiercely opposes Mr. Gül’s candidacy, and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) is their spokesperson. In fact a statement of the CHP claims that if Gül is elected the foundations of the republic will be shaken. “An anti-republic person who has the authority of appointing the members of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges (HYSK), and thus the authority of appointing and promoting judges and rectors, will put the future of the regime at stake,” they claim, adding: “It is seen that the AK Party has turned the election of Gül into a rematch against the democratic republic, which is devoted to principles of Atatürk.” If this approach of the CHP, which considers people’s will nonexistent, was to stay at the level of objection against a party that received 47 percent of the vote only three weeks ago and its candidate we would just pass it off by saying, “A typical tension policy of the CHP.” However what is dangerous is that the military is called on by the CHP to intervene in democracy once again. The military is being openly instigated, and the “men of their mission” and the “hit men” in the media have started saying and writing things as if they were mobilized by an invisible force.
The most provocative of their statements is the slanderous idea that “they are nominating Gül to win the rematch against the military.” This is obvious propaganda because the prime minister made a very conciliatory speech on the evening of the election and the parliament speaker was elected with the same understanding. Perhaps they thought Gül’s candidacy over. That the subject did not gain clarity for three weeks indicates that they deliberated over the issue and considered all possibilities. The view that outweighed all others is that, in the event Gül was not nominated, the AK Party could split, the people’s will would be disregarded and the government would suffer from an erosion of confidence from the onset. Nobody has the right to expect the AK Party to commit suicide by overlooking the growing number of reactions from voters.
The rationale of those who don’t want Gül is invalid and unfair. It is invalid because all such unsubstantiated claims were voiced in the republic rallies and the media readily gave coverage to all the claims. However the voters did not take any of them into account. They didn’t take the claimants seriously and did not listen to them. Moreover the interest in the AK Party increased and every other citizen voted for the party in the elections.
It is invalid because Gül is definitely not against the republic, despite how he is portrayed. Nearly all people from our generation were involved in violent actions in the past. Dialogue, tolerance, conciliation and respecting everybody are notions that belong to 8 to 10-year-olds. The prime minister’s speech on July 22 perfectly illustrates the point we have come to. Bülent Arınç has continually reiterated his sincerity in wishing that Turkey will enter the EU. What Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Mr. Arınç and Mr. Gül have said and done are right before us. Can overlooking these, going back to the past and doing an archive search to be able to accuse them of things on artificially-generated grounds have anything to do with sincerity? What they perpetrate is blatant incitement and instigation.
Turkey has entered the process of democratization with social conciliation and stability with the help of the national will that manifested itself on July 22. Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot this time. Nobody is planning to “play a rematch” against the military. Nobody can be planning to subdue the armed forces. This is our army and debilitating it is equal to debilitating the nation. Turkey wants to walk toward new horizons and wants to become a respected member of the family of nations by reading the age, becoming more democratic, developing and increasing its power.
Let’s not do our country wrong.
