Campaign slogans adopted by the opposition talk about everything except the reforms

Only the government Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is explaining the changes in the package. The other parties are making a point not to use any slogans or discourse that directly relates to the content of the package. The highest budget for the referendum campaign was also raised by the AK Party.

In the past two elections, the AK Party had emphasized the “nation” as the major element in its campaign. The same emphasis goes for the referendum, as the AK Party uses the slogan, “Our love is the nation, the decision is yes,” as it is the most frequently used campaign phrase. The AK Party also has devised slogans locally used on a province-basis such as “Erdoğan is coming, Bursa says yes” [which rhymes in the original Turkish].

The AK Party also uses the themes of freedoms and democracy for the referendum campaign. It employs the slogan “Yes to democracy and every freedom” to stress this point. It has published a 40-article guide that summarizes the changes the package will bring. The thematic slogans used in the package include “Yes to stopping child abuse,” “Yes to protection of personal data,” “Yes to burying blacklisting in history,” “Yes to expanding the freedom to go abroad,” “Yes to trying coup stagers,” “Yes to strengthening and ensuring judicial impartiality,” “Yes to ending the practice of trying civilians in military courts,” “Yes to the right of individual applications to the Constitutional Court,” “Yes to membership in more than one union,” “Yes to the of right of collective contracts for public servants,” “Yes to transforming from the law of power to the power of law” and “Yes to moving from the law of the superiors to the supremacy of the law.”

CHP focuses on AK Party performance

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is mostly opting for evaluating the past eight years of the AK Party in power rather than the package itself in its campaign speeches. The CHP has stated many times that it will support the package if the two articles in it that introduce changes to two judicial bodies are taken out. For this reason, it cannot build any arguments against the remaining articles. Thus, most of the campaigning is focused on these two articles. The CHP’s slogan is “Say No to ensure the continuation of the contemporary, secular and democratic republic,” trying to make it appear as if these values would be destroyed by the package. The party is mostly appealing to its secular grass roots as in previous elections.

The CHP slogans emphasize what the opposition party perceives as the shortcomings of the government. “Dying in mud-brick houses is not destiny,” a reference to this year’s devastating Elazığ earthquake in which 51 died. The high death toll was blamed on weak houses in the area made of mud-bricks. The CHP also emphasizes the possible economic outcomes of the package, using the slogan “Does the constitutional amendment package create jobs? No to the referendum.” The CHP also accuses the government party of trying to take over the judiciary and create a caste of allied judges. In various other slogans it refers to the package as a “poison pill” and “AK Party coup d’état.” It also underlines an article in the package that establishes an arbitration council to decide on strikes, which some have criticized as having the potential to ban union organized strikes. The CHP slogans also argue that the amendments are half-hearted attempts to protect the current Constitution of 1982, which was drafted after the Sept. 12 1980 military takeover. “Say no for a richer, freer and safer Turkey,” one of the CHP slogans says. The CHP also employs the double-use of the word “hayır,” which means “no” in Turkish and also “good, beneficial” -- incidentally used more often by religious conservatives. One such slogan is “Oyunuz hayırlı olsun,” which would mean “May your vote benefit you,” but also “May your vote be with a no,” if the first meaning of the word is taken.

MHP relates referendum to separatist violence

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is building its referendum campaign on terrorism and the government’s democratic initiative, also frequently called the Kurdish initiative. The MHP is clearly at odds with its own grassroots voters that polls indicate are gravitating towards yes votes. Like the CHP, the MHP also doesn’t go much into the content of the package to avoid deepening the already existing differences in opinion with its traditional voter base. The MHP uses terrorism and martyrs killed in clashes with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to make an emotional appeal. “One No [Goodness] is Enough for Your Country,” one MHP slogan says.

BDP’s confusion

The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which would normally be expected to support most of the articles in the package, announced its decision to boycott the referendum. Most of its voters, polls indicate, are supporting the package. However, the BDP cannot openly support the package due to political woes. It uses the slogan “Neither a yes nor a no, boycott the package.” The BDP administration is for the first time vying for the support of Kurdish citizens who live in big cities such as Ankara, İstanbul and İzmir. One slogan it employs is “We will not say one language, one nation [a reference to an earlier phrase used by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]. We will not go to the ballot box on Sept. 12.”

BBP not happy, but supportive