Mr. Prime Minister and ’overstepping bounds...’

Mr. Prime Minister has solely concentrated on the March elections and gave a start to election campaigns long ago. Erdoğan read the Constitutional Court’s decision not to close down his governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP, as the "start" of the election campaign. In early September, with the offensive, so to speak, against the Doğan Holding owner, Aydın Doğan, at his party’s district centers, Erdoğan launched the election campaign.

Since then, every step he takes and every word that comes out of his mouth, without giving into rage or anger, is planned and is all about the election campaign.

Erdoğan having intentions to claim the center in politics is not concerned by the left. He is trying to secure the right and to keep votes against the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP. And that urges him to beat the MHP in "nationalist remarks," as he always did in the previous election campaign trials. It is possible to see this in Erdoğan’s attitude against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, during the budget talks or his remarks against the apology campaign run at www.ozurdiliyoruz.com. It is a fact that the DTP makes politics via the "Kurdish nationalism." Still, can you say that the elements of tension in politics are the DTP and its Turkish version the MHP? The real tension is between the AKP and the DTP. For the MHP is already wiped off in the Southeast as the DTP’s rival and in places where the MHP is relatively stronger the DTP doesn’t exist. On the other hand, two competitors in the Southeast are the AKP and the DTP.

By adopting a "nationalist" discourse countrywide, Mr. Prime Minister is trying to "functionalize" the rivalry in the Southeast in favor of his party against the MHP. What about his statements during the budget talks:

"...I agree with what Mr. Devlet Bahçeli said minutes ago. We cannot leave the 'concept of nation' concept somewhere down the line, cannot leave the concept of homeland and neither can we let others divide the country..." This is an ordinary, demagogic, cliche and low-level language that we used to hear from other politicians for years.

Erdoğan is quite overstepping bounds with the "nationalist discourse" he adopted and put into work for election calculations. You may fiercely criticize the DTP, but is it understandable to make the "Nazi" accusations toward them?

What about his remarks targeting the DTP?

"...This is not the way to bring in democracy. Democracy comes in through the ballot box. You have to win the ballot box..."

The DTP came out of the ballot box anyway. If they cannot come out as a party, then they will turn to you and say "Lower the 10 percent election threshold that has never been seen in any democracy."

What will you say then?

His remarks, to the more, about schools and hospitals built with the state budget were; "You cannot build any of these. By doing politics via the identity issue only, you can build neither schools nor hospitals anywhere in the country."

Mr. Prime Minister’s statements are the reflection of an ill-minded democracy understanding. Democracies are a political arena for "identity politics" especially. What’s wrong with doing identity politics? Why is it wrong?

Erdoğan’s remarks against the "apology campaign" are understandable from a "nationalist" perspective. But his way of expression and his words are not worth mentioning. How could you have a response to someone, even if he is a prime minister, who says "I think they committed such a crime so that they are apologizing now," to people including prominent intellectual figures of the country and successful professionals participating in the campaign that their number will reach 10,000 soon.

The danger is the failure to send the monster coming out of the Aladdin’s Lamp by Erdoğan’s "nationalist discourse" back to the lamp again. The danger of "nationalism" may gobble down Erdoğan himself some day.

Another problem with his negative attitude is his saying, "This will help nothing but to reverse the steps taken so far," about the campaign after he specified the steps taken toward Armenia.

Such an understanding indicates that foreign politics is seen as a tool for blackmail rather than something to be built on "national interests," an act of cutting off nose to spite face. Ten thousand people in Turkey show sensitivity toward the incidents took place in our history 93 years ago and then Prime Minister Erdoğan gets angry and changes the Armenia policy.

Mr. Prime Minister is mixing the apples with the oranges and everything.

Ali Bayramoğlu, of daily Yeni Şafak, said, "The group that the Prime Minister is brushing over forms the 'intelligentsia' of the country. If so many names and signatures are seen at the bottom of the text, Mr. Prime Minister and the like should question the reason behind it." In fact the most beautiful answer to Erdoğan came from an Armenian-Turkish citizen, one of our counterparts, Markar Esaian. He wrote the following against Erdoğan’s remarks:

"This emotional statement, however, has a problem: on one side you will say that the 1915 incidents are not the business of politicians but historians, and suggest to Armenia the formation of a joint history commission in order to shed light on the facts, yet, on the other hand, you will write history based on your personal conviction and say ’We have no such problem.’ The issue may be controversial for you. Then you should keep your opinions to conversations with friends for the sake of consistency. Besides, who did ask you to apologize?"

Really, who wanted this? A similar mind of Mr. Prime Minister writes "If you are the intellectuals, I am not the one." Alright, but who did tell you that you are an intellect?

The number of signatures reached 14,000 Thursday, including signatures of people abroad and people from different professions at any age group, workers, unemployed, farmer, technician. They did so because their "conscience" told them so.

What will you say? Will you say, "If they have conscience, then I don’t have one?"

Perhaps, this is the right thing to do...