Politics in Turkey is no longer just a field where parties compete. Through behind-the-scenes alliances, seat calculations and the interventions of power centers, an artificial political order is put in front of the society. The public, on the other hand, sees that the structures claiming to offer a real choice are increasingly gathering in the same center.
Structures that once emerged with anti-establishment discourses and spoke of labor, people, revolutionism and opposition are now positioned around another political center instead of preserving their own identities. The fact that parties such as TİP, EMEP and DEM have become a complementary element of a CHP-oriented politics instead of expanding their own political lines causes a great questioning in a significant part of the society.
Because people are asking:
If everyone will speak from the same center, if everyone will follow the same candidates, if all politics will be tied to the tail of a single structure, then what is the reason for the existence of different parties?
Today's situation looks more like a political design than an ideological unity. Someone is trying to unite not only the CHP but the entire opposition along the same line. Different voices are being silenced and the possibility of producing different politics is being suppressed. The so-called diversity of opposition is being replaced by a bloc politics managed from a single center.
What is even more striking is that some political structures are spending all their energy on building politics through Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu instead of producing their own policies. Instead of coming up with strong projects on Turkey's economic crisis, unemployment, poverty, the collapse of education or the real problems of the people; their compression of the entire political language into intra-CHP showcases a serious political exhaustion.
Today, the criticism that some structures that unconditionally support the CHP's current leadership are moving away from producing independent politics is becoming louder in society. Because politics is not about taking a position against a person or taking sides in a party's internal struggle. Politics is about leading the way for the people, producing solutions and putting forward a strong will for the future of society.
However, at this point, many structures have turned into a repetition of the CHP administration's rhetoric instead of growing their own identity. Instead of producing original policies that mobilize its own base, a political understanding that tries to exist with social media agendas and daily polemics has emerged.
What is even more serious is that some so-called socialist structures that have emerged with the discourses of morality, labor and clean politics for years have remained silent in the face of corruption allegations, delegate negotiations, interest relations and dirty images discussed in public. It is a great contradiction that those who yesterday said “we are holding to account on behalf of the people” in the face of the smallest incident today turn a blind eye for the sake of political proximity.
While allegations of buying delegates, rent-seeking relationships around municipalities, and public images of the use of the power of office for personal relationships cause outrage in the society, it is noteworthy that there is no strong criticism from these structures. This is because when the issue is not a principle but a side, the silence of some circles becomes even more visible.
However, real socialist politics requires opposing corruption, objecting to the rent system and defending the rights of the people, no matter who is doing it. If a structure is silent about the wrongs it sees because of its own political affinity, it is no longer anti-establishment but part of the establishment.
The saddest thing is that the structures that have been saying for years that they are against the system, the order and the politics of capital today appear to have become part of the politics of order. The fact that those who say labor, justice and the people on the streets act in the shadow of seat negotiations and political calculations during election periods further increases the crisis of trust in society.
People now see this clearly:
Politics in Turkey is largely shaped not by principles but by perceptions and operations. An almost invisible mechanism decides who will be polished, who will be purged, which party will be promoted and which will be neutralized.
That is why people are questioning not only the government but also the opposition. Because the real opposition is not to walk in the shadow of another party, but to be able to speak out against everyone when necessary. Otherwise, what emerges is not a struggle, but a centralized decor of politics.