Right after being established, AK Party started their election rallies. While establishing organizations on one hand, they were making rally preparations on the other. Every rally was actualized with feelings of thrill-prayer and gratitude, and every kind of difficulties were being overcome. There were almost no provinces where AK Party, under Mr. Erdoğan's leadership, didn't realize a rally. While the number of provinces, where opposition parties realized rallies during the same period and the later periods, couldn't even exceed decimal digits, the crowds in AK Party's rallies were –no matter what the TV channels do- unable to be silenced. All the rallies, from Ardahan to Balıkesir, from Siirt to Batman, from Rize to Yozgat and Ağrı, had been pictured by our photographer Yasin Aras and it had been turned into a photo-album under the name of “The Language of Rally Squares”. As I was organizing my archive, I encountered this album and placed it on my desk. Nowadays, I'm flicking through it every now and then. While looking at the pictures, it's impossible not to understand the importance of the distance we covered and what a great “right deposit” the hope and love in the faces of people is. I had acquired the above slogan from a banner in those days. The Language of Rally Squares is in fact picturing the actual feeling, which brought AK Party to power and helped them reach the present time, really well.
When AK Party was established, it adopted a virtuous politics ideal as their primary plan. The community was searching for a leader they can trust. The community had grown weary of unemployment, poverty and insufficient politicians. Almost 60% of the state revenues were used for paying up debts and bankrupt banks. The state government had been locked up and AK Party became the only hope of the masses. The “No votes to wolves, birds and bees” slogan written on a banner in the Osmaniye rally, perfectly summarized that in those days the community had no trust towards anyone anymore. “IMF's pawns, you have blackened our future / You are our only hope, Mr. Tayyip Erdoğan” slogans abounded.
There had been common things that caught my attention as I was looking at the “poverty, hope and love” rally pictures.
It's neither the reports, analyses nor cold politics tactics…. Under Tayyip Erdoğan's leadership, AK Party personnel had always kept this hope and love alive and led the way. Since 2002, many things have changed in Turkey. This change found it's reward, once again in the vigor of the rally squares. The display of the squares had changed, the crowd gradually increased; however, the hope and trust in their faces had never changed.
This community still says; “No votes to the wolves, birds and bees; only votes to AK Party”. Nobody has the right to puncture this hope and love.
What are the developments in Yemen for women?
While watching the political developments in Yemen, it's impossible not to think of the women in our country. When I visited Yemen, in two different time intervals before and after the Arab Spring, I encountered two completely different pictures. In 2005, the display was despair. It made you feel that at least a century is needed in order for the women's lives to change. However, in 2013, I encountered a more hopeful display. Women regained their confidence and the communal/cultural change had begun. There were three women ministers, and the perception of women in the eyes of the community, and especially men, had started to change. By taking part in the National Committee, they attempted to bring a 30% quota for women. Tevekkül Karman, who possesses a Nobel Peace Prize, was quite hopeful; “We did not only struggle against the political dictatorship, but also the social dictatorship. We increased the voices of the youth and women, and created a brand new culture. Before, Yemenis were handling their problems with guns. The people gained a new horizon in resolving their problems and in establishing the civil government they dreamed of. Thanks to this horizon, they will be able to play an active role in the establishment of a civil government they dreamed of….”
For Yemen, this change was stating many things. If we are talking about Yemen, then it means that we are talking about a country, where the tribal traditions are regarded above everything, the religious bigotry is quite high, men align themselves with the gat behavior, poverty is common, and everyone's disconnected from the world and the 21st century. The rate of reading-writing is still below 30% among women. In rural regions, there are no schools for women or hospitals for them to give birth. The death rate of women-children is quite high. In many cases like early marriage or kidnapping small girls to neighboring countries, there are no mechanisms to defend women. In such an environment, civil war is amounting to the worsening of the women's condition. Today, these hopes are completely lost. As the Houthis reach Sana'a, Ta'iz and Aden, it interrupted the Yemeni women's hopes once again.
