Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sunday’s Zaman
June 7 2009

What does the CHP stand for?

IHSAN YILMAZ ihsan.yilmaz@todayszaman.com Columnists

It has become a common cliché to state that Turkey desperately
needs a proper opposition party. Based on observations of the
performance of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP),
even several staunch CHP voters repeatedly declared that the party has
to transform itself. It seems that many people vote for the party not
because they like it, but because they hate the Justice and
Development Party (AK Party). It is obvious that this is not healthy
for the Turkish political system. Public opinion is not sure about the
party’s proposed policies on several key issues, such as Turkey’s EU
accession process. The last straw, in my opinion, that broke the
camel’s back was the CHP’s stance toward the issue of land mine
removal on the Turkish-Syrian border. The party tried to create havoc
by strongly claiming that the AK Party secretly agreed with the
Israelis so that an Israeli company would remove the mines and would
start using the vast land, more
than 500 kilometers along the Syrian border, for 44 years for farming
purposes. In the domestic political arena, the CHP may be trying to
score a few points against the AK Party, but they must be thinking
that the international public sphere is full of idiots.
The CHP members of Parliament were so adamant in their claims about
the alleged AK Party-Israel conspiracy on the Syrian border that one
of the deputies — Mr. Ahmet Ersin, a lawyer by profession — stood by
the Israeli ambassador to Ankara’s car, which was parked in
Parliament’s car park, and harshly criticized those who were in talks
with the Israeli ambassador in the Parliament. Apparently, in his
conspiratorial mind, the ambassador was talking to the AK Party
deputies and possibly Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an. He
was so sure about this that he said the ambassador’s visit to
Parliament was a shame to Turkey, and so on. To his astonishment, he
later learned that the ambassador was not paying a visit to AK Party
members, but to one of Ersin’s friends, another CHP deputy,
Å?ahin Mengü. As far as I can see from the media, no one
has seen Mr. Ersin after the incident so that they could ask him how
he felt. Who knows, he could try to explain away
the shameful incident with another Jewish conspiracy.

This funny but real episode is an excellent summary of what the CHP
has been trying to do with regard especially to Turkish foreign
policy. They were trembling in fear after ErdoÄ?an’s Davos
incident, and one of the party’s leading figures, Onur Ã-ymen,
harshly criticized ErdoÄ?an. But now, they seem very happy to
fabricate conspiracy theories in which Erdogan and the AK Party give
in to `monster’ Israel. They must be thinking that the Israelis, who
they feared most when ErdoÄ?an criticized them just because they
were butchering innocent civilians and babies in Gaza, are not
watching them. Or else, they are not as afraid of Israel as they seem
to claim. I am confused. Anyhow, last week another CHP deputy who once
implied that Abdullah Gül was of Armenian origin was in the
United States and was trying to convince her Jewish interlocutors that
the AK Party is anti-Semitic.

On the other hand, we also know that one of the suspects of Ergenekon
trial, Ergün Poyraz — who was reportedly paid by the Turkish
gendarmerie for his services — wrote two separate books about
Mr. Gül and ErdoÄ?an. (And we all know that CHP’s leader
Deniz Baykal repeatedly stated that he was fully supporting the
Ergenekon suspects.) Poyraz’s book on ErdoÄ?an and his wife,
Emine ErdoÄ?an, is titled `Moses’ Children,’ and he implies in
the book that the ErdoÄ?ans are secret Jews. The book on
President Gül is named `Moses’ Rose.’ Rose is the English
equivalent of the word `gül,’ and Mr. Poyraz is similarly
implying that Mr. Gül is also a secret Jew. These are all
confusing. We should ask the CHP, its leader and its deputies: Why do
you seem to portray Jews and Israeli companies as `monsters’ while
simultaneously remaining silent in the face of the Zionist massacres
in Palestine, of which not every Jew supports?

It is obvious that the CHP is not clear, unequivocal and principled on
these issues. They have an archaic mindset that orders them to oppose
whatever the government does. No one knows what their opinions about
the EU, Middle East, US, Central Asia, Alevis, Turkish non-Muslim
minorities, human rights, privatization and so on are. Its sister
parties in Europe were closed down after World War II, and its
continued existence may be the only negative side effect of Turkey’s
non-participation of this disastrous war. Unlike Germans and Italians,
Turkish people are still — at least mentally — suffering.

07.06.2009