PM Erdoğan slams anti-democratic attempts to hijack ruling power

“We are behind the wheel, we step on the gas pedal, but someone comes and puts on the brake. Another one attempts to intervene in the steering,” Erdoğan said, referring to the recently exposed Sledgehammer coup plan, without naming it. The prime minister said Turkey was undergoing a rapid transformation, but at the same time could not get rid of some old topics of controversy and discussion.

“Over the past 100 years, perhaps more, this country has been returning to discussing the concept of reactionaryism. Although the meaning of secularism, the gist of it, its purpose, is very clear, it has been a topic of discussion for 100 years in our country. They reheat and bring back concepts such as civilian dictatorships, concealing one’s real purposes. They are trying to open the will of the nation to discussion.” Erdoğan said the same group of people brought these issues up again and again.

He said recent criticism he has faced, such as accusations of “civilian fascism” or “single-party dictatorship,” had been directed at former prime ministers Adnan Menderes and Turgut Özal. Erdoğan said the mentality of some circles in Turkey never changes. “Turkey is growing, developing and moving forward, but they do not show the slightest example of this evolution. Our multi-party life owes very much to Menderes. Those who accuse us of single-party dictatorship should look in the mirror first. This country lived through a single-party dictatorship. Who was in power then? It was the Republican People’s Party [CHP]. At the time of that dictatorship, the CHP’s provincial branch leaders simultaneously served as governors and mayors of the provinces. This country has seen all this. With what face can they say what they are saying now? They should be ashamed. The nation will no longer swallow such lies,” Erdoğan said.

He also spoke about pro-status quo forces that are criticizing a political movement that has been a driving force of change in Turkey, making the country a civilian democracy. Erdoğan said these groups capitalized on the status quo and could not tolerate advances in democracy. “They said five years is too much [for a government to be in power]. We came to power and reduced that to four years, did we not? How can you call this civilian fascism or a single-party dictatorship? We are the ones who made this possible,” Erdoğan said. He criticized previous governments for holding too many early elections despite wanting to hold on to power for five years. He accused those governments of being inept.

Erdoğan also criticized some columnists for not mentioning the good deeds of the government in their columns. “[They do this] because they don’t know how to appreciate what’s good. But what matters is what the people appreciate,” he said.

The prime minister also said there were attempts to instill fear in the public by the same segment that wants to hold onto the status quo as its life vest. “Their solution is a tunnel of horror regardless of what chronic issue you are trying to solve.”

He also said that although everyone speaks about democracy, no one supported the government when it attempted to solve issues of democracy such as the problems of minorities or democratizing the Constitution. He said the opposition was afraid of a new constitution that granted more freedoms because it knew this would change the status quo.

Erdoğan also said Turkey had a serious problem with sound opposition. “In democracies, the opposition is as important as the government. We are faced with an elitist opposition that feeds on the status quo, one which resists every reform and change just for the sake of objecting. How can an opposition party that does not embrace all of its country, that cannot talk to all of its country’s people, help Turkey?” he asked, highlighting that the CHP’s votes were limited to small pockets of land within the country.