BirGün Gazetesi
Politics Collective The 24-year rule of the AKP owes this long lifespan not only to the political conjecture and external support but also to the blatant mistakes of the opposition. In these days when the former chairman of the CHP is eager to take the helm of the main opposition as a regime apparatus, we remind our readers of the contributions he provided to the government during his past chairmanship period. Undeniably, the betrayals of the CHP under Kılıçdaroğlu’s leadership against the public and the opposition are far greater than those we recall here. In the most general sense, the past CHP administration was one of the most significant actors in the effort to liquidate the street opposition that emerged during Gezi (the 2013 Gezi Park protests) and reduce politics to the ballot box and names. At the point we have reached, both the ballot box and candidacies—which are now presented to the public as the sole choice—have been effectively eliminated. The dates specified below are a compilation of the support provided by the Kılıçdaroğlu administration towards the regime’s acquisition of power and legitimacy. 20 MAY 2016 "IT IS AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION, BUT YES!" One of the greatest betrayals that will go down as a dark stain on the history of the CHP under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s leadership was the vote to lift parliamentary immunities, which took place in parliament on 20 May 2016. As a continuation of the strategy of the AKP—which lost its chance to rule alone in the 7 June 2015 elections—to form an alliance with the MHP and demonize the HDP, the lifting of the immunities of HDP MPs in parliament was brought to the agenda. During a period when ultranationalist fascists were organizing raids on HDP offices across the country, the government, realizing that the way to stay in power was to play to the nationalist base and steering its course in this direction, also planned to politically eliminate influential opposition leaders like Selahattin Demirtaş in this manner. Despite the glaring reality and even the intense objections within the CHP parliamentary group, Kılıçdaroğlu decided to stand beside the AKP, dressing this up in a cloak of democracy: "A regulation is coming that is against the Constitution and aimed at deceiving the public. If they are going to throw us in prison after immunity is lifted, let them do so. We are ready to pay whatever price is necessary to bring true democracy to this country. We must make a serious decision and risk everything. The HDP must also say 'Yes'." 7 AUGUST 2016 THE YENIKAPI BROTHERHOOD Another significant turning point where Kılıçdaroğlu supported the government in its difficult hour was the stance he adopted after 15 July. The conflict of interest that the current government entered into with the Gülenists—whom it had cooperated with for years, enabling them to infiltrate all levels of the state—ultimately resulting in a coup attempt from which only the country emerged damaged, was viewed by AKP members as a story of victimhood and an opportunity to gain power. The 2-year state of emergency declared after 15 July paved the way for the regime change, and the cadres vacated by the Gülenists were filled with AKP-MHP members and members of religious cults. The pose struck together by the leaders of the AKP, MHP, and CHP at the Yenikapı rally, which took place a month after the coup, also played an important role in enabling this process to gain legitimacy. Choosing to attend the AKP rally post-haste under the guise of being a proponent of 'democracy', rather than adopting a stance that confronted both actors of the coup, Kılıçdaroğlu reminded everyone once again that he was a fair-weather friend to the government. 16 APRIL 2017 UNCONTESTED ACCEPTANCE OF THE YSK COUP One of the most important steps in the political conjecture and regime transformation that took shape post-2016 was the 2017 referendum, which was entered into within the state of emergency declared after 15 July. The referendum, held following Bahçeli’s call to transform the regime into the one-man regime previously pointed out by the CIA, became the greatest mobilization of social opposition in Turkey since Gezi. The 'No Movement', led by the left and notably the Haziran Hareketi (a left-wing political coalition and social movement formed in Turkey following the 2013 Gezi Park protests) received immense support across the whole of Turkey. The referendum, which the CHP administration of the period did not even object to being held under state of emergency conditions, was handed to the government at the table through the YSK’s coup-like decision to "count unsealed ballots". The Kılıçdaroğlu administration did not display any meaningful opposition against this fraudulent referendum, through which the AKP seized the entirety of the state, other than pursuing the "judicial path" option, and it also blocked the public’s calls to take to the streets. 14 MAY 2023 THE ELECTION OF HUBRIS, NOT OF THE PEOPLE The 2023 Presidential and general election took place during one of the weakest periods in the AKP’s history, moreover following its loss of almost all metropolitan municipalities in 2019. At a time when all segments of the public demonstrated their anger towards the government in workplaces, schools, and streets after quiet years spent under the state of emergency and the pandemic, and when the social opposition was rising to its feet once again, Kılıçdaroğlu’s initial strategy was to conduct the election process not with the rising popular opposition, but with the Table of Six, which consisted entirely of right-wingers, a significant portion of whom lacked meaningful representation in society. The process, conducted behind closed doors in an election that would determine the fate of the country, where names rather than the future were debated, and where a sort of return to the old AKP was marketed at a table containing two former apparatuses of the regime, stalled before even reaching the election. Meral Akşener, whom Kılıçdaroğlu had personally enabled to form a party, lead it, and enter parliament, broke up the established table in a manner that, looking back from today, was undoubtedly a pro-government move, dividing the opposition during the candidate determination process. Subsequently, despite all the objections rising from society, Kılıçdaroğlu nominated himself for his personal hubris. The outcome of the election, where tables and chairs took precedence over the hope of the people, granted Erdoğan the chance to retain control of the regime at his most critical moment. In the conjecture that formed after the election, we continue to fight today against political coups through which the most fundamental democratic rights of the people are stripped away. Note: This article is translated from the original article titled İhanetin 16 yılı, published in BirGün newspaper on May 31, 2026.
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