“The power of the state is measured not by whom it confiscates, but by whose rights it protects.”
Turkey has recently been going through a deep moral crisis that extends from politics to the business world. Examples such as Paramount Hotel, Ciner Holding and Papara clearly show that the state-capital relationship has become not only an economic but also an ethical problem. These shadowy networks established with public power shake the scales of justice and fundamentally undermine public trust in the state.
Erasing the line between capital and state
In Turkey today, the boundaries between public authority and big capital are almost completely blurred. Partnerships that were once defended in the name of “economic stability” have now turned into alliances of interest. The question of to whom public resources are transferred and on what grounds disturbs the conscience more and more every day.
The might of the state is measured not by seizing companies, but by protecting the rights of the poor, the laborer, the citizen who lives by the sweat of his/her brow. Today, however, this principle has been replaced by a show of power.
Decay seeping into the veins of politics
Another face of corruption is seen at the heart of politics. The current leadership of the Republican People's Party has become one of the clearest examples of this decay. A party that was founded with the hope of the people has become synonymous with seat calculations, tender negotiations and interest relations.
Intra-party fights are not only a sign of political rivalry, but also of the loss of ethical values. The public is no longer looking for a “power alternative”; they are looking for an ethical politics.
It is clear why clean politics is being targeted
This is precisely why the clean, principled political line represented by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has been targeted. Because honesty is the biggest threat to the functioning of the dirty order.
Kılıçdaroğlu's presence unmasked relations of interest in politics. Those who wanted to discredit him actually wanted to protect the dirt of the system. Today, political engineering under the name of “change” has often become a cover for moral liquidation.
The real crisis: Moral, not economic
Turkey's current crisis cannot be explained solely by the exchange rate, the interest rate or the budget deficit. The real crisis is the politicization of morality.
Corruption, meritlessness and self-interest are rotting the state's understanding of justice from within. An order in which self-interest, not the law, is the determinant can neither sustain justice nor revive the economy.
What is needed today is not new laws, but a remembrance of old values.
History does not forget
The might of the state is understood not by whom it confiscates, but by whose rights it protects. And history shows that no corruption that is forgotten by the public will be whitewashed in the archives of history.
The consciences that remain silent today will be witnesses of justice tomorrow.
Because truth is delayed but never lost.