Turkish Daily News reports that the Turkish opposition “leveled criticism at the government’s program read out by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan last week,” yesterday. The most aggressive opposition came from Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Erdogan ignores, according to Bahçeli, the most important issues facing Turkey such as the situation in northern Iraq. Instead of proposing ways to deal with the PKK and northern Iraq, “The principles and basics of the Turkish Republic were opened to debate and a campaign aimed at upsetting the unitary structure was launched. Turkey is being dragged into an atmosphere of internal civil conflict,” according to the MHP’s leader.
He went on to say that Turkey today is “divided into camps between the progressive and backward minded, between secular and religious circles.” Bahçeli added that “it was absurd to be engaged in a move looking for a new identity for the Turkish nation and underlined that Parliament’s priority was to protect the peace and unity of Turkey.”
The CHP meanwhile focused on the economical plans of Erdogan and his party. Under Erdogan’s rule, many state owned businesses have been privatized. Although this makes sense, in my opinion at least, many Turks oppose this measure; they feel that he is selling Turkish companies to people who have no sympathy for Turkey and whose only goal in life is to earn as much money as possible. Furthermore, the CHP spokesman also – in this regard rightfully – added that Erdogan used privatization to pay off debts. “What will you do when there will be nothing to sell?” he asked.
Although I do agree with the CHP that Erdogan should think of other ways to pay off Turkey’s debts and to improve its economy than merely by privatization, I also agree with Erdogan that privatizing many companies is the right thing to do. The CHP’s reluctance to accept this is yet another sign that many of its ideas are outdated.
The MHP is quite right about the issue of terrorism and northern Iraq. Erdogan has mostly ignored the problem with the PKK while Turkish soldiers – mind you, Turks are forced to serve in the military – die on a nearly daily basis. It is no wonder that many Turks are upset by Erdogan’s policies in this regard (if he continues to ignore the problem, support for the MHP – one of the main winners of the last elections – will only increase).
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