Necip F. Bahadir
I was planning to write about ‘July 15’ coup attempt of Turkey today, but the news of a police chief bowing deeply to kiss Devlet Bahçeli’s hand exploded in the media. I have no choice but to touch briefly on both topics. Neither can wait. It is essential to note these in history. For a journalist, the issue is not a lack of topics but an abundance of them. Choosing between them is not as easy as it seems. You have to catch one of the butterflies fluttering before your eyes and explain it to the reader.
It’s been eight long years since July 15. Throughout the day, I closely followed the programs and carefully read the statements, but unfortunately, it was merely commemorated! There was no effort to understand and illuminate it. The commemoration, celebrated with songs and marches like a holiday, was limited to certain segments of politics and society. Apart from the AKP, MHP, and Doğu Perinçek, I didn’t see anyone singing the July 15 ballad. As it stands, July 15 is long gone from the public’s agenda.
For the past few days, I’ve been pondering the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of July 15. I could also phrase it this way: What did July 15 gain or lose for Turkey? Those who took to the streets and squares at the cost of their lives, risking every danger and threat, weren’t they fighting for ‘democracy and freedom’ when they stood against the military coup attempt?
How will we illuminate July 15 without asking questions? It’s fine to celebrate July 15 with songs, but when asked if ‘Turkey is more democratic and freer than before July 15,’ can their answer be ‘yes’?
It’s not just about democracy and rights and freedoms; we can expand the scope: for example, is the economy, the condition of retirees, the psychological state of the country, or foreign policy better today than before July 15?
Don’t get me wrong, as someone who has opposed military coups and external interventions in politics throughout his life, I have no sympathy for July 15. My stance has been clear from the beginning. I wish the July 15 issue could move beyond being used as ‘material and capital’ for politics and strategic calculations and be fully illuminated so we could start discussing July 16. Despite eight years, July 15 is still a big question mark. Stepping outside the rote narrative is forbidden, speaking is risky, debating is dangerous, and asking questions is perilous… Only singing along with the chorus is allowed. So, how will July 15 be illuminated? As Nazım Hikmet said, ‘If you don’t burn / if I don’t burn / how will the darkness turn into light?’
Nihal Olçok: July 15 Was a State Project; Everyone Got What They Wanted I found Nihal Olçok’s statements, who lost her husband and son on July 15, very significant. What she said was not trivial. They pierced through lies and falsities like bullets… They tell much to those who pursue the truth. Olçok read the indictments, participated in the July 15 trials, followed the cases in the courtroom for days, listened to the defendants, and paid attention to the witnesses. So, what she said is the result of witnessing the process; “That night is dark… It is still dark for me. Nothing has been illuminated in eight years. As far as I can see, this was a state project… It was systematic… And everyone got what they wanted… The elephants fought… The grass was trampled.” She spoke from the heart, not from rote.
Tayyip Erdoğan said in commemoration programs, “We will not forgive those who call July 15 a theater or a controlled fight!” These words made headlines. Let’s say you won’t forgive Kılıçdaroğlu or the opposition… What will you do about Nihal Hanım? She is the trust of your closest friend whom you walked with. Look what she says? Who is in the position to forgive, you or her? Will she forgive you? You haven’t responded to what Abdurrahman (Dilipak) Abi said, you ignored it. Your party’s Şamil Tayyar’s questions also remain unanswered. Alright, you are deaf to voices from outside, will you also ignore Nihal Hanım who is close to you? What kind of loyalty is this? Doesn’t Erol Olçok have any regard?
When Were Those Posters Printed? Nihal Hanım has another question; “The billboards surprised me a lot. They were hung everywhere on the morning of July 16. When were they prepared? When were they hung?”
As your elder brother, your intellectual mentor Abdurrahman Dilipak said, did you know about it 4 months in advance? Forget Turkey, don’t you owe Nihal Hanım, the trust of Erol Bey, an answer?
In her interview with Kürsü TV, the lines that caught my attention the most were different; “Success fueled by blood is not real success. There will inevitably be a defeat in the end. We will all see this. In the Quran, it says ‘debased.’ By God… By God… No one can fix what God has debased. And many people will be debased. Because it was fed with blood. At the root of this success is blood right now…’
Wow… What words? She openly talks about Erdoğan’s power sitting on blood.
If someone else had said this instead of Nihal Olçok, I wouldn’t have taken it so seriously and emphasized it so much. A government that rises on the victims and blood of July 15… This is July 16… A power ‘fed and strengthened by blood’… None other than AKP and Erdoğan. Will Erdoğan also ignore this burning and painful voice coming from right beside him? Can there be a more striking warning and admonition to stop and reflect? Nihal Hanım has recorded her observation and accusation of ‘power fed with blood’ in history. This will be revisited in the future.
Bahçeli and Perinçek: The Winners of July 15! That’s why in my previous article, even though I knew it would surprise some, I said I was inclined to see ‘Erdoğan and the AKP as the first victims of July 15.’ Because after July 15, Erdoğan ceased to be ‘Erdoğan,’ and the AKP ceased to be the AKP… When weighed on the scales of history and fate, it won’t surprise me if July 15 is marked as the ‘turning point of betrayal to the cause and the sacred.’ Everyone with reason and conscience is aware of this fact. After July 15, Erdoğan fought with himself and history. And he ended up as one of the losers.
The winner of July 15? In the short term, Bahçeli and Perinçek and their ilk… Essentially the same family. Like the right and left hands of a person… Not two separate bodies. The real forces behind them are what matter. Neither speaks with their own voice; they are puppets of certain dynamics.
The act of the Police Chief and his team kissing Devlet Bahçeli’s hand in Gölbaşı on July 15 is symbolic and loaded with meaning… It is the declaration of victory on July 15. The message is directly to Erdoğan… The AKP and Erdoğan were only left to sing the song of July 15. The real victory belongs to someone else… There is another ‘hand-kissing’ we haven’t seen yet; the ‘Generals of July 16’ also knelt before Doğu Perinçek… Both Bahçeli and Perinçek are in the twilight of their lives… That means the ‘July 15 regime’ won’t last long.
Even the fact that Devlet Bahçeli, who left his house despite being covered in wounds, has not held a group meeting in Parliament for three weeks and has fallen into deep silence has not escaped my notice.
I observe…
Dear reader, as you can see, I finished the article by linking the two topics. I hope I have conveyed my message correctly. By the way, my aim is not to be a member of the choirs but to ‘present another perspective’ and to say, ‘Change your place a little and look from here.’ Otherwise, repeating clichés is easy… But it doesn’t benefit anyone. Your writer has never been part of any choir in his life and has deliberately tried to create his own voice.”
