‘No front’ continues to expel reform package supporters

The Democrat Party (DP) announced on Saturday that it has expelled former leader Süleyman Soylu. The expulsion came shortly after Soylu launched a campaign supporting a “yes” vote in the approaching referendum on constitutional amendments, to be held on Sept. 12. The campaign drew the ire of the DP administration, which stands strongly opposed to the planned changes to the Constitution, a remnant of the 1980 coup d'état. In early August, the party's İstanbul disciplinary board gathered upon the order of DP leader Hüsamettin Cindoruk to discuss Soylu's expulsion. The party's İstanbul provincial chairman, Tekin Enerem, said the reason for Soylu's expulsion was his acting against the party's decision to oppose the constitutional changes.

Soylu told reporters on Sunday that the expulsion would not impact his decisiveness to vote for the constitutional amendment package in the referendum. “I will say ‘yes’ at the ballot box even if I’m the only person left in this country,” he said. “I embarked on a career in politics for the children of my country and their future. I am ready to pay the price for what I have done. The world is walking towards a new order, and Turkey needs to fulfill its responsibilities in order to keep up with developing nations. People have been intimidated by either weapons or coups d’état here. They [coup plotters] attempted to kill fraternity by making brothers kill their own brothers. I want to be an honorable Turkish citizen, but not their aide. Therefore, I will say ‘yes’ in the referendum,” Soylu said.

According to the former DP leader, Turkey will wake up to a new morning on Sept. 13. “Either this country will continue to be dominated by darkness or it will turn into a transparent and safe country where everyone will be able to seek their rights,” he added.

Soylu is not the first politician to be forced to part ways with his party for declaring he will vote “yes” on the constitutional amendments. Eşref Erdem, a senior Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy, announced on Aug. 9 that he had resigned from his party after it decided to refer him to the party’s disciplinary board for expulsion. Erdem is currently continuing his political life as an independent deputy. Mehmet Şerif Memioğlu, the mayor of Yedisu, Bingöl province, was also referred to the board after attending a rally of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and noting that, while he is a CHP mayor, he will vote “yes,” contrary to his party. In addition, two CHP district chairmen recently resigned in order to vote “yes” in the referendum.

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is also known to be putting pressure on its members to vote against the reform package. Recently, Eskil Mayor Niyazi Alçay was forced to resign from the party after he announced that he would support the constitutional amendments. Similarly, the mayors of Sarıoğlan, Sarayönü, Kurşunlu and Bademli in Konya province have announced their resignations.

The expulsion of Soylu was met with harsh criticism from former members of the DP. Former Antalya Mayor Hasan Subaşı, a longtime member of the DP, said he met Soylu’s expulsion with “sadness.” “Political parties are supposed to urge and institutionalize civilization. All institutions should stop trying to bring the society to the line,” he said. Subaşı also said he would expect the DP to take major steps in giving the society a more civilian spirit. “The DP is about to vanish because it has continuously fallen off its original path. Political parties cannot pursue politics despite their grass roots. They cannot claim that they have their grass roots’ best interests in mind when their supporters believe the contrary. They cannot make binding decisions in votes such as referendums,” he noted.

According to Subaşı, Soylu can nullify the expulsion decision if he exercises his legal rights. “This will remain a black spot on the DP,” he added. Former DP Deputy Chairman Nevzat Ceyhan noted that the expulsion of the former DP leader from his party is a source of “shame” in the name of democracy.

“Who really needs to be expelled from the DP are Cindoruk and his men, the subcontractors of Feb. 28 [1997, the postmodern coup]. They are still working to ensure that the impact of Feb. 28 remains in place for a long time to come. Soylu’s expulsion means nothing to DP supporters because they still love and support Soylu.” he added.