Of course, it is the Republican People's Party (CHP) that took action to prevent the application of this fairly new bill, endorsed by the president. Just like it did with past reform bills, Turkey's social democratic party is making an effort to hamper Turkey's European Union reforms. Considering that this party previously declared itself the advocate of the actions of the Ergenekon network, we can say there is nothing to be surprised about in this. However, this last event is too much even for the CHP because said bill has been discussed extensively at Parliament with the participation of CHP members. During the discussions, all participants agreed on the content of the bill. Furthermore, in the final session, CHP deputies voted for the bill. It is also impossible to argue that they were not informed about the content and the prospect of this bill considering that one of the deputy parliament speakers is a CHP member.In short, what we are dealing with here is a small scandal. The opposition party is trying to make sure that a bill, adopted with its support, is annulled. Maybe they thought of this as a trick and wanted to publicize their extensive support for the military. However, this approach by the CHP points to an institutional framework and creates a party that is unbearable by even the most ardent opponents of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
To this end, it should be noted that the socialist wing of secular circles has been looking for a new leftist political party for a while. But work and efforts to achieve this goal have so far not created positive results for the public. Maybe it is necessary for the initiators of this process to create a new left-oriented party to get together and further discuss some political issues to understand that they will never achieve this goal. They fail to realize that the actual issue is agreeing on what constitutes the left rather than creating a leftist party. In other words, instead of searching for an alternative leftist approach based on social demands, they are trying to make a decision on what social demands they will represent based on how the left can be defined.
However, the rapid change of Turkey's profile has already outdated these kinds of modernist theorizations. It is not possible to argue that any political action or movement that does not rely on a democratic mentality and mindset will be influential over the people for decades to come because the AK Party rule presents an indisputable and invincible determination to take Turkey to the world and to Europe even though many have difficulty admitting this. On the other hand, a substantial part of this party's voter base is in favor of liberties in such fields as gender issues, social life and culture -- so much so that even their party is not very eager to preserve these liberties. Therefore, it does not seem possible for a party not relying on a democratic base to attract extensive support of the people. However, the precondition for this is to become as reform and freedom oriented as the AK Party. This is exactly where actors defining themselves as leftist are trapped because the Kemalist identity is the core of Turkey's leftist movement.
The major handicap of new approaches that are opposed to the CHP but also fail to become intimate with the AK Party is the fact that democratic leftist politics is too weak in this country. However, the inadequacy of leftist politics in the West is to be cited as another factor because leftist parties in Europe have not adopted a democratic mindset by relying on a non-modern image and design, and there is no sign that they will take this bold step. It could even be argued that secularism is becoming the identity of the left over there as well.
However, maybe the most important reason for the absence of a new leftist alternative in Turkey is the fact that the country is on the verge of a great transformation. The transition from an empire to a republic was pretty ordinary; a change of the political regime did not change the political elites nor the political mentality. The society continued surviving under the rule of a more authoritarian administration that stood out with different preferences. However, there is now a dynamic of change that is rooted in the lower levels of society. The most important thing today is whether Turkey will be able to overcome this threshold.
To do this, there is a growing need for the support of the majority and legitimacy provided by universal principles. The combination of the AK Party and the EU is the reply to this need. In other words, as long as a party like the AK Party, able to represent conservatives, is supportive of the EU process, the democrats of this country will keep supporting it. This means that an alternative party based on leftist premises will have to agree on serving as an opposition party. As such, we are now dealing with new efforts to create a new left that are destined to fail. But we are also putting off democratic leftist politics that will be found meaningful by the people.
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