Turkey will reject the single man the at the ballot box

Three of the CHP’s leading lights, Baykal, İnce and Tekin, have set out their views on matters from the reaction among voters to the crisis with the Netherlands to the stance of Kurdish voters and from their referendum predictions to the concerns of the MHP ‘No’ camp in the face of their headquarters’ ‘Yes’ decision.

IF WE GET IT ACROSS WELL, THE NETHERLANDS WILL FLY IN THEIR FACES

With the winds of ‘No’ seemingly prevailing in public opinion, the boost to the morale of the ruling-party front given by the crisis that erupted with the Netherlands has led to concern among the opposition that the undecided might move towards ‘Yes.’ CHP MP Deniz Baykal was the first figure to cancel his programme in Germany even though he was slated to appear there when the crisis with Germany first erupted. I had the opportunity of chatting briefly to Baykal in the corridors of parliament, and he was of the view that the escalating crisis with the Netherlands needed to be very well ‘explained and managed’ from the opposition’s point of view. Baykal gave the following example: ‘You know, serious fathers get cross with a child who fights in the street and breaks windows, saying, “This happened partly because of you. Who told you to go there?” don’t they? That’s how to get it across. That’s what I’m trying to do. For ministers of the Republic of Turkey to be treated like this is really not on. It’s unacceptable. But, I have explained that the government bears blame for this, too.’

Turkey’s honour has been demolished

Baykal pointed out that the rough treatment meted out to the minister was unacceptable, but the government’s added insistence on attempting to go with a ‘bully-boy’ attitude and full of defiance to a place they had been told to stay away from has raised questions in citizens’ minds as to whether the crisis was orchestrated. Baykal said, ‘Turkey’s overall honour and esteem has been demolished. All sound thinking people there (in the Netherlands) are uneasy and critical. This was not an accident; an affair of this nature was foreseen, provoked, ordered and imposed.’ Baykal posed the question, ‘Were Syria’s new president to come here – let’s say Assad has gone and he’s been replaced – and say he’s going to hold meetings in Kilis, Hatay and Istanbul: Would he get permission?’ Baykal responded as follows to my question as to whether the Netherlands crisis has helped or hindered the ‘Yes’ camp: ‘I don’t know if it has helped or hindered, but this is the most serious task facing us and if we get it across well the Netherlands affair will fly in their faces.

IN THE FACE OF PRESSURE, THE WALL OF FEAR HAS COLLAPSED

CHP MP Gürsel Tekin is touring Turkey in a bus he has fitted out using his own means and named the ‘People’s bus’. Tekin, who has most recently been speaking face-to-face with voters in the South East, described his impressions as follows: ‘I have travelled around 28 provinces by now. But, of all these, the most important are the south-eastern provinces, because you can well imagine the extent of the pressure. In spite of all this, they are expressing themselves with courage and showing that the tunnel of fear has collapsed. In Batman and Diyarbakır and their sub-provinces they are firm in their intention to vote ‘No’. Maraş and Urfa, and Kırıkkale and Bursa are places where the ruling party is strong. The atmosphere here gives cause for hope. If the election were to be this Sunday, I can say that ‘No’ would get 65% overall in Turkey.’ According to Tekin, it is impossible for the opinion polls to give the correct result in this process. He explained the reason for this with an example from the discussions he had had: ‘In one province I went to, four civil servants were sitting around. I asked them, “What do you think?” They said, “Officially we support ‘Yes’. unofficially we support ‘No’. This is because people are afraid, not of punishment transfers, but of being branded as having allegiance to the Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organisation.’

The pressure has reached the level of ‘keeping in line through hunger’

Tekin, stating that, in provincial capitals, Kurdish voters are saying both that they will go to the polls and will vote ‘No’, says, ‘There is in particular pressure on rural villages and citizens who benefit from social assistance. Keeping people in line through hunger is something that has been rejected by humanity. But, sub-provincial governors and governors serving on behalf of the state are threatening to cut off aid. But, out in the South East, they are supporting ‘No’ despite this pressure, also in the countryside. The leaders of a party chosen by six and a half million voters have been detained. The appointing of curators has gone down very badly. To get to the town hall it’s as though you’re crossing the Great Wall of China. Both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ supporters want politicians to come to the region. An HDP voter told me, ‘Let everybody come. Let Meral Akşener come, too. We’ll make her feel at home, too. We want to hear her.’

THE STATE IS PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS BUT ‘NO’ IS VERY STRONG

Yalova MP Muharrem İnce is conducting his referendum campaign through open-air rallies. İnce, having held rallies in a great many provinces from Van to Kırklareli, is aiming to hold rallies everywhere in Turkey up until 16 April. İnce, indicating that people are declaring themselves to be ‘undecided’ in the places he has been to because of ‘fear and pressure,’ said, ‘I sense the fear, but the undecided will certainly go to the polls and vote ‘No.’ For this reason, I believe that the turnout in the election will be very high.’

Ultranationalists are attending my rallies

İnce, noting that the crisis that started with Germany and has escalated with the Netherlands is producing no reaction among the people, expressed the view, ‘A considerable majority thinks that the Netherlands affair is staged. They are not debating the constitution and are causing tension through fighting with the Netherlands. The state is pulling out all the stops for a ‘Yes’ vote and is employing provincial governors and concealed payments to this end. But, in spite of all this, ‘No’ is very strong.’ İnce, describing how he has seen ultranationalists at every rally he has held, and saying, ‘They listen, give the ‘grey wolf’ salute and convey their concerns that a single man will dominate everything and democracy will be destroyed,’ explains that a group of AKP voters also said they would vote for their party in elections but will vote ‘No’ in the referendum. İnce stated that the ‘No’ camp among AKP voters is inclined to think, ‘We made you mayor, we made you prime-minister, we made you president, what more do you want?’ İnce recounts that, having held a rally in Van, only one of 150 people he spoke to on visits to small businesspeople expressed the intention to vote ‘Yes’. İnce, indicating that he has not taken his own ‘rent-a-crowd’ along with him, takes pains to stress that citizens had put up posters for him and invited him and they had not spent extra money. İnce, pointing out that they had faced obstacles such as power cuts but these had not daunted them, underlines his resolve with the words, ‘If it is for my sultan to decree, the wide open is ours.’

Türkiye sandıkta tek adama ‘hayır’ diyecek