By Kırmızı Gazete
The old saying about revolutions applies today: Great social movements come at a time when it is thought that they will never come again! This has happened again. Just like the Gezi uprising! Hundreds of thousands took to the streets and squares with anger and courage at a time when despair and exhaustion were everywhere. Just as it was not about “a few trees” during the Gezi uprising, the problem here is not Ekrem Imamoğlu alone!
Several crises brought several explosions. Neither the government nor the opposition expected a reaction of this magnitude. Had the government, which has long been on the “path of no return,” been able to predict the magnitude of the reaction, it could have been more cautious and resorted to more subtle tactics spread out over time. However, the danger posed by Imamoğlu’s quick exit and the fact that the rotten regime, despite all its physical strength, could not be sure of its future required haste. Erdoğan attacked the CHP (Ed.: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, Republican People’s Party, the main Liberal party in Turkiye) head-on again with time-tested method. But this time the CHP did not run away. Because there was nowhere to run. The Imamoğlu incident was a clear sign of Turkiye’s course, the internal transformation of the regime and the turn of the CHP. The completely illegal cancellation of the university degree of a candidate who could have defeated the Erdoğan in a free election, his subsequent arrest and dismissal, the handing over of CHP municipalities to government-appointed trustees and the possibility of appointing trustees even to the administration of the CHP itself showed that the regime’s transformation into something worse had even more outrages in store. The regime had now decided to remove its last “democratic” veneer, to abolish the (relatively) “free elections” that it had considered as its “only source of legitimacy” and to invent other sources of legitimacy to suit itself. A senior advisor to the president had also declared that Erdoğan’s path to candidacy was exceptionally open as a ‘national value’, and declared his goal of a lifelong presidency! The Imamoğlu incident was only the beginning: clearly, Turkiye is entering a new era.
Exploitation, oppression, and poverty...
The dynamics caused by the multiple crises, the exploitation of the workers that has reached an appalling level, the social and political oppression, the repression, the injustice and the inequality, the catastrophic impoverishment and the deep sense of hopelessness led to the mobilization of different segments of the society, especially university students, in large masses. This attack on the regime was perceived as a “coup”. The CHP, which had always advised the society to “stay at home and wait for the ballot box” and did not react to the election and referendum fraud, called for action when the course of events became a direct threat to its own existence and future. This call found an unexpected response in the society. Özgür Özel told the hundreds of thousands of people who had gathered in Saraçhane Square for days that this was not a “rally” but an “action against fascism”. The CHP’s inclusion of masses other than its members in its primaries and its mobilization of millions of people is the result of this understanding. Now we are facing a different situation in every aspect. The regime has lurched forward in its game of political chicken, and the masses have responded by taking to the streets and entering the struggle with an energy and courage far beyond expectations. Just as fear and despair are contagious, so are courage and hope. This fact is being proven once again in the streets, despite all the threats and violence of the regime forces. The regime, which has been accustomed to suppressing all rights and protest actions for years without giving them a chance to grow, is surprised by the huge crowds that have taken to the streets. The problem is how to harness this energy, hope and enthusiasm to the next level without wasting it. However, it is not possible for the government, which cannot forget “Gezi” 12 years ago, to forget these events at a time when it feels much more pressured! The regime will use different tactics, crude or subtle, to take these events into account, and to the extent that it can take initiative when the streets are empty, it will do its utmost to prevent a repetition of the events and to turn hope into despair. For this reason, social and political actors should make a concrete and nuanced analysis of this situation and shape their ways and methods accordingly.
What is important is what course the developments will take from now on and with which forms of action and self-organisation the struggle will advance. Each form of action can only advance and rise to a higher level with the consciousness, demands and organisations it will create. The paths these mass mobilisations will take, the organisations they will create and the results they will achieve will have a first-degree impact on the future course of the country.
The Outcome of Spontaneous Mass Movements
The fate of mass mobilisations, similar to revolutions, is decided in the ‘political arena’ by political leaderships. It is the qualities of these leaderships that will determine the outcome. What we are talking about is a spontaneous mass movement with all its colours, diversity and contradictions, which, for the time being, draws its dynamism from the student protests that have suddenly reached gigantic proportions. It should not be forgotten that such movements, which should never be underestimated, looked down upon or crammed into ready-made moulds, have also been the raw material of revolutions throughout history. This is of course to minimize the role of political leadership. On the contrary, the greater the dimensions of spontaneity, the greater the need for political leadership. However, no leadership can exist in a vacuum. ‘Leaders without a mass’ are doomed to fail! ‘The most indisputable feature of revolution is the direct intervention of the masses in historical events… When the old order becomes unbearable for them, the masses tear down one by one the walls separating them from the political arena, displace their traditional representatives, and by this intervention create the conditions for the beginning of a new order,’ Trotsky writes in “The History of the Russian Revolution”. Of course, it could be argued that examples of ‘revolutionary situations’ in history were much grander than the present moment. However, it is useful to think big without breaking away from the current concrete reality and an awareness of all its shortcomings. Otherwise, we know that if this gigantic movement withdraws without leaving in place a permanent dynamic of struggle, the regime will unleash a reactionary wave without mercy. However, at least among the youth, a dynamic which has begun today with widespread student walkouts that may affect the class struggle for some time. The events of the last few days have shown that the attacks can be reversed and this regime can be sent to the dustbin of history. At the same time, by making visible the deficiency, the void created by the lack of the working class as an independent and organised force in the mobilizations…
Can you imagine the result if the anger, courage and energy unleashed by the events of the last days were combined with a general strike!
Yes, Turkiye is entering a new era.
