Bekir Coşkun, who is a very close friend of Çölaşan. While he was faltering between leaving or staying, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s help came in the nick of time. Let me summarize the situation for you: Bekir Coşkun, in his column dated Aug. 15 titled, “He will not be my president,” wrote these words: “The [Justice and Development Party] AK Party is a religious-centered party, which is programmed to take revenge on the secular republic and the Atatürk reforms. The religious segment’s plans to lay their hands on the country and to oversee a counter-revolution are working like a clock, without any problems. Frankly speaking, this is the victory of ‘the man who scratches his belly.’ He made his decision before the general elections. While those wishing for a bright future for their children took to the city squares, he laughed up his sleeves from afar, scratched his belly and paved the way for a religious state. Abdullah Gül is a tailor-made president for him. In fact, Gül will be his president, not mine!” On a TV program, Prime Minister Erdoğan said, “Then renounce your Turkish citizenship!” referring to this column without mentioning his name. This attitude cannot be justified. For Mr. Prime Minister to speak this way is neither elegant nor correct. And in fact, he is currently under a bombardment of criticism. However, the real face of the situation is totally different: Can you say, “There is the freedom of speech, he can write anything he pleases,” about someone who declares a party that received 47 percent of votes as being an enemy, and heaps insults on half of the people by saying, “the man scratching his belly”? There are media ethics, just as all other sectors that have their own ethic rules. And so does Doğan Holding which owns Hürriyet daily. Its Article 7 declares: “Nicknames and words that exceed the tolerable limits of criticism; that humiliate and insult persons and institutions, and that are slanderous cannot be used.”
What Coşkun writes is not criticism; his columns are downright insulting. And Coşkun is not insulting only one person; he is humiliating 16 million voters! You might not like the president of the Turkish Republic, but you have to be respectful. The same insults were hurled, up until a very short time ago, by Çölaşan. Yılmaz Özdil, who took part in the operation to sack him, is also doing the same thing. He calls some 16 million people who voted for the AK Party “dimwits.” So, why are these insults overlooked?
Let me answer: These are the children of a neighborhood where “those who cannot digest people’s will” live. The name of that neighborhood is “the Double Standard Neighborhood.” Let’s walk through the neighborhood and read the signs: Kışlalı Avenue, Neo-Nationalist Blocks, Çölaşan Market, Bila Parquet Polishing, Civaoğlu Social Engineering, Ataklı Package Industry, Özdil Butcher’s, Pulur Drag Link Balance, Bayer Pharmacy and many more…
Yes: the residents of this neighborhood have double standards. On Haber Türk news channel on April 28, 2006, the ninth president, Süleyman Demirel, in regard to the headscarf problem, said: “If you really want to study with your headscarf, there are countries where you can do that, so go to such countries. Go to Saudi Arabia.” Did a single person from these neighborhoods defy him, saying “You cannot tell anyone to leave!”? Is there anyone of you who criticized him for saying that? No. Why? Because Demirel has moved to your neighborhood and he spoke in a way you liked:
“The AK Party cannot resolve the headscarf problem. How will you change the Constitution? Come on; change it if you can! There are other forces in Turkey.” (May 1, 2006. All newspapers) The foundation of your neighborhood is rotten. You have no respect for the national will; you don’t tolerate pluralism, you don’t like democracy; and most importantly you have no respect for people’s values and beliefs. If this is an idea; I respect it. The only correct ideas and beliefs are yours… or is it so?
Since July 22 put an end to your urban legend, you cannot bring yourselves to “digest” the people’s will.
