Can the AKP Regime Be Defeated? What is to Be Done? - Güneş Gümüş

The process that started on March 19th should be considered as an attack against the right to vote and be elected in Turkey. Arrest of İmamoğlu would be followed by appointment of trustees to İBB (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality) and CHP (Republican People’s Party). Thus, a qualitative leap would be experienced in the construction of the sultanate being built step by step. But the youth movement led such a large public reaction that the AKP had to postpone its plans. Not only the public reaction, but also 52.5 billion dollars they burnt in two weeks in order not to lose control of the foreign exchange. Make no mistake; AKP’s plans are not cancelled, just postponed. The Erdoğan we know, when he feels strong, would press the button to put a trustee to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and then try to appoint whomever he pleases at the head of the CHP… Following the recent days’ earthquake in Istanbul, Bahçeli's statements were interpreted as a request for a trustee to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Then came the second wave of operations against the İBB. In short, the case is not closed yet. 

In Turkey, the only obstacle in the road for an explicit dictatorship is the continuation of public opposition’s vitality. This is the core of the issue. But how will this be achieved? They say that the best defense is good offense, and that’s the recipe if there ever is one! This means that instead of waiting for the AKP’s operations, one must retain the advantage of action. To do this, well-formulated social demands addressing burning issues should be added to the defense of democratic rights against the dictatorship. Pressing against the regime with such state of solidarity coming from this strong campaign, would be effective in achieving results. 

At this point, the demands of “No to dictatorship”, “Early elections now!” and “Government resignation” must be raised. Indeed, in the given balance of forces, such demands won’t weaken the struggle in the street; but instead strengthen it because the resignation of the government and early elections can only be possible with pressure from the streets. If the formula of early elections was constructed through parliamentary bargains and sleights of hand from higher politics, then this demand would be reactionary. But at the current situation, only through actual struggle can the AKP be forced for an early election. In that aspect, the demands of government resignation and early election does not exclude the struggle in the street, but on the contrary, strengthens it by setting a tangible objective. 

On the other hand, the demands for “No to dictatorship”, “Government resignation” and “Immediate early elections” must be combined with the following social demands: 

1. Abolish job interviews for governmental positions (This was the promise of Erdoğan) 

2. Increase to the minimum wage on the rate of real inflation + a share from the growth rate 

3. Budget for scientific education, with hundreds and thousands of teaching staff 

4. Budget for health, public health, with hundreds and thousands of healthcare staff 

5. Wealth tax for the ultra-rich 

These demands may be insufficient, excessive or revised; but what is crucial is the formation of solidarity through addressing the burning issues of society. Why shouldn’t the youth movement create a great state of energy by going door to door from campuses to neighborhoods, collecting signatures, organizing neighborhood forums and marches? Why shouldn’t all city centers, billboards, TV speeches, rallies, neighborhoods of laborers and industrial areas be adorned with these demands! See, unlike 2013, the AKP base listens to the opposition in 2025. The AKP’s base will start to crumble when we can address the tens of millions of people whose children cannot be assigned to a governmental job, who are anxious about the future, who cannot make ends meet with low wages, who cannot deal with their credit cards. Once social excitement begins, the AKP can no longer remain at the wheel. But public excitement doesn’t come by saying “we don’t want these things”, it is necessary to say, “we want this and that thing instead”. Along with anger, dreams and desires must also be stirred up. Such a solidarity wouldn’t only create a resistance against AKP’s coming operations, but also matures the struggle, expands the base for mass support and slips AKP from the ground it stands on. And finally, creates conditions in which the power that comes from production (in its most progressive form, a mass strike) is being used. 

In other words, the perspective of some youth groups based solely on confronting the police does not contribute to the struggle, it would even cause the demonstrations to weaken. To rely solely on reactivity serves no purpose other than venting anger and causing hopelessness. The regional rallies that CHP holds in various regions with certain periods would not be enough either. CHP rallies, which are little more than election rallies, would eventually become normalization efforts. But we are in extraordinary times and must do extraordinary work. We can’t expect the CHP to weave a strong campaign revolving around class interests, opposition to dictatorship and laboring masses’ burning issues, but socialist forces must be able to organize these campaigns through coordination with each other. We must organize the struggle as a process, create content with shared wisdom and reach out to the working people by adopting unity and solidarity as our motto. Taking initiative for a united struggle is a revolutionary duty. 

Empty discussions about May Day also show that tendencies such as narrow sectarian rivalry, bureaucratism, contesting each other’s revolutionarism, inability to put on solid work; must be gotten rid of. Unless we greet May 1st with workers and struggle built around urgent demands, location fetishism (the debate about the marching ground present in Turkey) has little value. A workerless, demandless, agendaless and ultimately weak push for location can’t possibly serve its purpose. 

I believe what is to be done is clear. In this process it’s quite possible for AKP to fall, we must only combine mass power and courage with strong solidarity and class demands. Through this, the youth movement that prides us all can strengthen its shift towards left and have a claim on the future of the country.