The pro-coup ebullience that rears its head every time we think it has blown over in Turkey made an appearance once again, at a most inconvenient time, saying: “We are not gone, we are still standing tall.”
The declaration issued a few nights ago at midnight by over a hundred retired admirals, like a show of strength, managed to engage all the fools and smart alecks in the country, mobilizing them to solve the coup debate pursued by these desperate democrats.
The fact that the declaration was issued at midnight is a reference to the classical coup tradition. All coups were conducted around those hours – excluding the July 15, 2016, coup attempt, which was hastily conducted at an earlier hour in panic of getting caught, and failed for that very reason.
On the other hand, the fact that it was posted on the internet reflects its continuity with the new generation coup tradition, which started on April 27, 2007.
Of course, what is not traditional – and may perhaps be considered as new – is that such a declaration was issued by retired soldiers; a declaration yearning for what they failed to achieve while they were on duty.
Is it as simple as this? In other words, is it a declaration issued one night by 104 admirals just for the sake of it and to make a contribution to the opposition? Since they are retired, could this mean that they have no other extension among the military or other active forces? Should the reaction against this declaration be determined based on whether these extensions exist? Or can it all be whitewashed with the discourse of “freedom of expression,” which is the first thing the opposition clings onto after testing initial reactions?
Frankly, 103 or 104 retired admirals being perturbed by some state of affairs is quite normal. Let them be perturbed. This country is run with political decisions; it is not and cannot be possible for the administration to please everyone. Opposition, petulance is likely, and there can be nothing more natural than these people and groups expressing their own objections and grievances. Thus, the goal is for these policies to please more people than it perturbs.
However, what is not normal is that these admirals, even though they are retired, are taking such action with extreme meticulousness and with such timing to give off the impression of a declaration of democratic politics.
Turkey is very far from any likelihood of a coup under the current conditions. The reactions against this move do not stem from the presence of coupist conditions, and thus, are not the result of a possibility that these admirals could execute the threat implied. On the contrary, it is these reactions that render this coup threat invalid and impossible. There is now a certain awareness in this country, enough to make those who even deign to think about a coup attempt regret the very thought.
This awareness did not develop overnight – it was most certainly not a piece of cake. This nation developed an awareness that considers coups as the greatest devil as a result of the coups they experienced, which cost this country a great deal. The whole world saw and experienced how this awareness stood up against the coup attempts on April 27, 2007, Dec. 17, 2013, and July 15, 2016.
The anti-coup sentiment in Turkey presents the “never again” attitude adopted by the nation. However, it was seen that this attitude, which was presented after 2007, did not deter the coup plotters despite Turkey’s objective condition. Let us not forget that the minds of coup plotters work differently. The social awareness that develops against coups is all well and good, but if only the coup plotters knew and understood this. There is the story of a mental patient who fears all chickens and is afraid they might eat him because he believes himself to be corn. Hence, shortly after being treated and leaving hospital, he returns to the hospital running from a chicken and says: “You treated me, but do the chicken know that I am not corn?”
Simply saying that prudent conditions for a coup no longer exist in Turkey is not significant. Coup plotters are living in a different world, and they are likely very far from the world of the public that rejects all coups. Additionally, if they have no hope in terms of democracy, we see that they do not hesitate to sacrifice themselves through such suicide attacks.
There were many ready to identify those who mentioned the coup just one day before the event in 2007 as “insane.” Did we not see those very same people call the television channels all night and praise this declaration, stating how rightful and delayed it was, while the government had not yet revealed its historic attitude? Did we not also hear the same people evaluate everything that happened as a conspiracy of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) after things that started with this declaration went all wrong following the on-point stance of the AK Party?
The desperate democrats of that time should be asked why they have not tired of putting this country through constant déjà vu. The Republican People’s Party (CHP), making efforts with helpless democratic discourses to achieve what these 104 admirals could not, did not neglect the unchanging last line of déjà vu this time: The AK Party is taking advantage of the political outcomes of this declaration.
Seriously, what can someone, who is able to say that their own actions benefit their opposition, achieve in politics? You are yet to grasp your own actions. You are not even aware what your own act, your own statement, your own coup is affecting. What business do you have in politics, you desperate democrat?
