HALKWEBAgendaErkan Baş: There is not a single citizen who voted for TİP and regrets it, but...

Erkan Baş: There is not a single citizen who voted for TİP and regretted it, but there are many who did the opposite

TİP Chairman Erkan Baş said, "We have data showing that 16 percent of the community we received votes from were people who had previously voted for parties like AKP-MHP.’.

Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) Chairman Erkan Baş met with journalists at a breakfast meeting at a hotel in Taksim, Istanbul. He was accompanied by TİP Spokesperson Sera Kadıgil, Istanbul MP Ahmet Şık, Deputy Chair Doğan Ergün and Central Executive Committee (MYK) member responsible for Public Relations and Press Izel Sezer.

 

Speaking here, Baş said that his party is continuing its district congresses and will complete them by the end of this month. Stating that they plan to complete the provincial congresses in October and the grand congress in November, Baş continued his words as follows:

“WE HAVE PREPARED A POLITICAL REPORT: Our congress is not a congress about who will take which executive position and where. As a result, elections will of course be held at all levels, but our main focus is this: We have prepared a political report, this is at a certain stage of maturity in the discussions we are conducting. We have now delivered this political report to all party members. Basically, we are trying to analyze in detail what is happening in the world and in Turkey, what is the situation where we are. We want to discuss together what we should do in this situation, and ultimately the question of how to do it is one of our main agendas. We think it would be healthier to form management levels in the party according to the results that come out of this. I would like this to be considered as a reflection of our demand or claim for a radical change, a real transformation in Turkish politics. In other words, we are making an effort to organize a process in which not only names and people are changed, but also a process in which a political idea is discussed and appointments are made, if necessary, in line with those political ideas.

BOTH THE CITIZENS AND US ARE IN A STATE OF SADNESS: Both the citizens and us are in a state of sadness. I am in no position to hide it. I mean, the election had created a great hope to get rid of Tayyip Erdoğan, this palace regime. We felt the sadness of not being able to take advantage of this, of not being able to achieve this. As time passes, this sadness turns into more anger and hope combined with it. I can also share this open-heartedly. I mean, I arrived in Istanbul yesterday. Before that, for 10 days in a row, I visited almost all the districts, especially in Muğla and Antalya, where the party received high votes. We held meetings. Frankly speaking, just from our point of view, we observe that the energy before the elections, the hope that had accumulated around the party has now met with an excited expectation.

NOT A SINGLE CITIZEN REGRETS VOTING FOR TP: I can share this. This is the situation that makes me the happiest, there is not a single citizen we have met so far who has voted for the Workers‘ Party of Turkey and regretted it, but there are many others. Because of the blockade during the election period, we also hear the regret of many citizens who thought that our vote for the Workers’ Party of Turkey would not be effective, and maybe gave up at the last minute, or who thought about it but could not convince themselves enough, and said, "I wish we had voted for you." We are not angry with them either. We are not angry with them either. Other choices and platforms where they can make use of this chance will emerge together. We say this on our behalf. The only negative thing about these election results is that the opposition may not win. In other words, we were talking about a risk that the opposition would fail to win more than the government winning. As a result, this is what happened. In other words, the opposition failed to win and once again the life of the government has been extended.

WE ARE NOT SAYING THAT WE HAVE NO CRIME, NO SIN, NO DEFICIENCY: We do not have this approach here. We are not saying that he is guilty, she is guilty, he is guilty; we are clean, we have no crimes, sins, deficiencies, weaknesses, nothing. Rather, we are trying to ask the question ‘What should we have done, what can we do in the coming period? For example, one of our first conclusions is that when we look at the Workers’ Party of Turkey from the socialist left, it seems to be the party that has reached the most serious organization in the last 40 years. From time to time, for example, this can satisfy us, that is, to have reached a level of organization that has not been achieved for 40 years. With the last official figure, the number of members of the party exceeded 42 thousand. This is of course very important for parties in our category, but if we are talking about a Justice and Development Party with 11 million members, if we are talking about reactionary, right-wing, racist, religious parties with 100s of thousands of members, this is certainly not something that can be considered sufficient.

WE ARE VERY CLOSE TO OUR TARGETED VOTE SHARE: For example, one of the most important lessons we can learn about ourselves in the coming period is to make the party more organized, both in terms of growth and crowding, and in terms of internal organization. I think one of the interesting results of this election should not be overlooked. The votes that the TİP received, maybe when we look at it from the inside, when we look at the results of the elections on the table, it doesn't seem like a sufficient number of votes, but let's not neglect the fact that we entered the elections in 51 provinces. In other words, the Workers' Party of Turkey is not a party that entered the elections in 87 constituencies. If we had entered the elections in 87 electoral districts, and when we add Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Bursa, Manisa, Aydın, Antep, which we expect and know that we can get above average votes, we actually think that we are very close to the vote rate we targeted for ourselves. This is the picture we see.

IT IS NOT A FAILURE IF WE EVALUATE THE TYPE: Here's the problem. There is no such example in the world. For example, the labor union in that country, let's say the progressive labor union, DİSK, has 240 thousand members, while the Workers' Party of Turkey received one million votes. Now, when we look at the examples in the world, the situation is a bit opposite. In other words, trade unions, women's organizations, youth organizations are more mass, more mobile. The workers' parties in those countries can boast of getting the votes of, let's say, the leading sections within it. In other words, they received the votes of the vanguard of the organized sections of the working class. If we make an evaluation of the Workers' Party of Turkey, for example, this is not a criterion of failure, it is good. Therefore, when I talk about organizing, I am not only talking about increasing the number of members of the Workers' Party of Turkey. Perhaps this should be one of the issues that we will give our second self-criticism.

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DEFEAT AUTHORITARIAN RULE THROUGH ELECTIONS ALONE: Our memorization, our view of politics, our view of social struggle tells us this, we have always said this. It is not possible to achieve success only in elections, it is not possible to defeat a government, especially such an authoritarian, oppressive government, only through elections. The social opposition, the social struggle gets stronger and this is reflected in the ballot box, but as we move towards that election atmosphere in Turkey, perhaps there is a wind created by the success of the local elections in 2019, the situation that we are all familiar with, ’Whoever loses Istanbul, loses Turkey‘, has brought about an excessive concentration towards the elections, but when we look at it from today, we can say the following. We can say that the trade unions in Turkey are so unorganized, that the women's movement, although it has a certain dynamism, has not gained a sustained and organized state, that the youth movement, as we see in the example of Boğaziçi, exhibits very important resistances but has not turned into a permanent, systematic, organized movement, or that the struggle for ecology, in short, the organization of the areas and weight of struggle that the Workers’ Party of Turkey sees as its source of nourishment, stands before us as an important task, an important responsibility, at least as important as the organization of the Workers' Party of Turkey.

16 PERCENT OF OUR VOTES CAME FROM PEOPLE WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY VOTED FOR PARTIES LIKE AKP-MHP: When we look at the election, Tayyip Erdoğan again succeeded in creating a social polarization, a social division in a way that worked in his favor and took the election along that axis. I think we were one of the parties with the highest potential to break this. In other words, we were one of the parties that could appeal to citizens and laborers who had previously voted for the AKP and MHP, and get votes from them, and attract them to take a position against the Palace government. We could not turn that false division into a correct alignment. We see this as one of the important tasks of the coming period. In a research we conducted based on the results, we have data that 16 percent of the community we received votes from were people who had previously voted for parties like AKP-MHP. It is not enough, but it is very important data for us as a start. In other words, 16 out of every 100 people who vote for the Workers’ Party of Turkey have voted for parties like AKP-MHP in previous elections. 21 percent are people who were voters before but didn't go to the polls, people we think of as boycotters. We received around 20 percent of the votes from voters who voted for the first time. Now, when we add these up, I can express it as a very important responsibility for us.

WE HAD EXPRESSED THE ALLIANCE FOR LABOR AND FREEDOM AS THE THIRD OPTION: We had expressed the Alliance for Labor and Freedom as an extremely important third option. In other words, the real alternative to Turkey's two in-establishment blockages can be shaped through the Labor and Freedom Alliance, and you will remember that we have spent a lot of effort since the beginning for its establishment, but during the election process, perhaps we, the parts of the alliance, but more importantly, the election process was not experienced as a process that would make the broad masses of the people comprehend the importance of this and bring its value to consciousness. In other words, we consider it a shortcoming on our behalf that we could not sufficiently explain how important the Labor and Freedom Alliance is, and how valuable it would be for Turkey to strengthen a third option in which the people are the subjects. We do not look at the issue only as a matter of how we entered the elections. Various methods could have been tried, but in essence, those debates prevented the Labor and Freedom Alliance from being presented to society as a real third option and receiving the support it deserved.

A NEW LANE HAS OPENED IN TURKEY IN FAVOR OF LABOR, FREEDOM AND PEACE: Finally, I must also say that in this state of general defeat, that is, in the general dark picture, we see the votes of the Workers' Party of Turkey as valuable. In other words, this should not be trivialized. At the same time, there is such a warning from the citizens towards us. In the end, we have achieved something like this in Turkey, perhaps for the first time in 100 years, but it happened in such a bad period. I guess it is a bit similar to the '65 TİP. (Süleyman) Demirel was in power there too. Therefore, this success did not create a state of emotion that we could rejoice and be happy about. In our previous meeting with the press, I had set a target of 3 percent votes. If the electoral system had not changed, the Workers' Party of Turkey would have achieved this target, considering the conditions of that day. The importance of this is that we can say that a new lane has been opened in Turkey in favor of labor, freedom, secularism and peace. Such a path has now emerged as at least a possibility that it can grow and expand.

THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR ERDOGAN ARE NOT A BLOC: In the coming period, we will be thinking about how we can realize a new exit that will change the political balances in Turkey, that will perhaps put aside the split in society, that will upset all these balances. Let's say that the people who voted for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are not a bloc or a whole in this election. Among them there are also those who listen to the Workers' Party of Turkey. The people who voted for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu are also not united around a single view. There are also citizens there that we can talk to and discuss. Therefore, we will try to use the advantage of being a party that can reach out to every segment in proportion to its strength. Here is our rough formula for the upcoming period.

‘THE NOTION OF ’DOING OPPOSITION LIKE A TYPE' HAS RE-ENTERED POLITICS: We say that in the past phases, the Workers‘ Party of Turkey brought the concept of ’opposition like TİP’ back into Turkish politics. That concept from the 60s has come back into Turkish politics. Whether they voted for us or not, many citizens who maybe didn't like us also gave the TİP its due. Today in Turkey there is such a thing as opposition like the TİP. Now, we will undoubtedly continue to say wrong is wrong and to resist practices against the people as much as we can. So we will try to do opposition like the TİP more strongly, but at the same time we are focusing on something. Now we also need gains. In the coming period, we will definitely overcome the obstacles to workers' unionization, which we call the politics of gains. We will push for changes in the law. If not, we will focus on concrete gains to make workers unionized and organized through actual struggles.

WE WILL ACT WITH THE AMBITION TO WIN MORE THAN ONE SOCIALIST MUNICIPALITY: We will try to adopt a line that is not enough just to fend off the attacks of this government on women's rights, but to demand, fight for and win the struggle. We have solidarity networks that we have laid the foundations of before, especially in working and poor neighborhoods. With the earthquake, it became clear how important this was. We will make an effort to strengthen these solidarity networks and perhaps in these upcoming elections, as a phase of all these struggle processes, we will act with the claim of winning more than one socialist municipality in an election for the first time in Turkey. We are working in multiple dimensions. A citizen said this at a meeting. I liked it very much. He said, ‘If the Workers’ Party of Turkey calculates something, I trust them'. Almost all of the calculations we made in the last period were correct.

WE CLAIM TO TAKE SOME PLACES FROM AKP: Our goal for the post-election period is to create a union of socialist municipalities, to increase the number of socialist, populist municipalities and to implement such a new understanding in local governments in Turkey. For this, our central election commission, district organizations and provincial organizations are currently working intensively. One by one, we are analyzing all districts, both the general situation of the districts and the situation of the Workers” Party of Turkey there. In some places, I will say it openly. In other words, we will put an end to the laziness that the Republican People's Party has entered into because of the AKP; we will put an end to the comfort that the citizens will vote for us here and we will win here in the face of the AKP threat anyway, and we will make an effort so that our citizens will be involved in serious races there. We are also carrying out special work in some places where the AKP says these are my strongholds, these are my positions, we will never lose these places. The claim and goal of taking some places from the AKP will be brought before you in the coming days with concrete candidates, programs and districts. In the end, we will try to focus on a new period of struggle in Turkey, the lessons we have taken over from the past and the new tasks we will try to focus on in a new phase, that is, with concrete new data in front of us in Turkey after May 28th."

Erkan Baş also said the following about lawyer Can Atalay, a detainee in the Gezi Park case, who was not released from Marmara Prison in Silivri despite being elected as Hatay MP from TİP in the elections held last May 14:

“THE ONLY THING MISSING IS CAN'S RELEASE: The situation of our comrade Can Atalay; we will continue to say this persistently, stubbornly. After all, a fellow elected MP is being held in prison in a completely unlawful manner. There have been various initiatives regarding this until today. In other words, there have been many protests in Hatay, there have been protests all over Turkey, there are protests abroad. First of all, he was elected, he received his mandate, he was registered in the Parliament, he became a candidate for the Presidency of the Parliament; all of these were important steps, but I especially underline his election as a member of the Human Rights Commission. In other words, Can Atalay was elected as a member of the Human Rights Commission without a single dissenting vote in the Parliament. Therefore, we think that the will of the Parliament has already been manifested here. The Parliament has also developed an attitude on this issue. Maybe he didn't say it out loud, but there is not a single dissenting vote. Can's advisors have been appointed. I think they are doing that because they don't know what to do right now. Only Can's parliamentary questions are not being processed, they are suspended. They are not rejected, they are not processed. Other than that, all three of our counselor friends have started their duties. The only thing missing is Can's release.

‘CAN ATALAY MOBILE OFFICE’ TO BE ESTABLISHED IN HATAY: Let me share two things. One is that we all know the situation of the people of Hatay. They are going through very difficult times. Moreover, as the earthquake is left behind, the difficulties do not decrease, they increase. They are generally forgotten. The people there are left alone with their own difficulties. First of all, on behalf of the Workers‘ Party of Turkey, we owe a debt to the people of Hatay. We need to get Can Atalay out of prison and he needs to focus on his duties and responsibilities there. Until this happens - we think it should be as short as possible - we have made a division of labor among us. In the coming days, a ’Can Atalay mobile office' will be established in Hatay. This mobile office will go to one district every day. Our counselor friends, lawyer friends, provincial executives of our party, other MPs when necessary, and ourselves will be there. We will do everything we can to make Can feel his absence as if he is outside and doing his duty. Such a mobile counseling office for Can will be mobilized.

WE START WALKING FROM HATAY TO ANKARA FOR CAN: While actually solving the problems here, we cannot let this be forgotten. First of all, this is a heading of the general justice debate in Turkey. The government has turned the judiciary into a cudgel and uses it as it pleases. The Can Atalay debate is a part of this justice debate. For us, the Can Atalay debate is a part of the Gezi trial. Our struggle for Can's freedom is also a struggle against the unlawfulness in the Gezi trial. It is never, ever possible for us to accept this, to put up with it, to say wait and see. By October 1, we expect the Constitutional Court to make its decision. On October 1, when the Parliament reopens, if Can is not released, we will not go to that Parliament. We will go to the people of Hatay that day. We will say that the new legislative period of the Parliament is starting, your MP is being held in prison unjustly and unlawfully. If they say ‘sit here’, we will sit there with them. If they say ‘let's walk to Ankara’, we will start walking to Ankara. And we will never shut up until we get Can out. We will not allow this issue to be forgotten, to be covered up, to become habitual.

WE WILL BE IN HATAY ON OCTOBER 1ST: I see with my own observations that the anger of the people of Hatay is increasing day by day. People's lives are ruined. Every day they are subjected to injustice, lawlessness and injustice. The MP they appointed to fight against this is being held captive in the same way. What more can we expect from the people of Hatay? The people of Hatay did everything they had to do. We are ready to do our part together with them as of October 1. On October 1, we will be in Hatay. I hope Can will be released and we will be in Hatay with him. If not, this struggle will continue from there.”

HE SIGNALED THAT CANDIDATES WILL BE NOMINATED IN DEFNE AND SAMANDAĞ DISTRICTS

After his speech, Baş also answered journalists' questions. Commenting on the local elections, Baş drew attention to their vote potential in the Defne and Samandağ districts of Hatay. Pointing out that they will field candidates in these two districts, Baş emphasized that they are very close to winning.

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