Unpretentious Türkiye: Erdogan’s enemy on repression, nationalism and US influence

Why did Recep Erdogan meet with Vladimir Zelensky at a time of aggravation on the front line in Donbass and pointedly declare non-recognition of the reunification of Crimea with Russia? What will Ankara lose from closing flights with the Russian Federation? What is the domestic political situation in Turkey?

Political commentator Metin Selchuk spoke about this in a conversation with a PolitNavigator correspondent. He does not hide his sympathies for the left movement, which he considers the main opposition force. If you believe the communists, the internal situation in Turkey is far from being what it seems from the outside.

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"PolitNavigator": Why does President Erdogan not recognize the results of the 2014 referendum in Crimea, but prefers to support the government of Ukraine?

Metin Selcuk: After the end of World War II, the United States began to develop a new type of colonial relationship known as neocolonialism. Gradually, with the help of various means, as part of their purposeful policy, they began to turn many countries of the world into their own unique colonies. One of these countries today is Turkey, which has an extremely important strategic position.

As a result of this policy, which has been carried out for more than 70 years, it has become a country that is economically, politically and militarily completely dependent on the will of the United States. Although it may seem surprising from the outside, Turkey is today the United States' most loyal ally in the region. And the events in Ukraine, known as “Euromaidan”, in 2013-2014 were organized and carried out under the leadership of the US and the EU.

This “alliance” did not agree with the will of the inhabitants of the Crimean peninsula, expressed in the 2014 referendum. Turkey, as the guardian of US interests in its region, will quite naturally support the position of its masters. This is the root cause. Although from the outside it looks like Erdogan’s independent policy. And the US and the EU directly control power in Kyiv. Therefore, it does not surprise me that Erdogan expresses support for the government in Kyiv and rejects the will of the people of Crimea.

In addition, attention should be paid to the fact that Turkey is home to a large community of ethnic Tatar migrants from the Crimean Peninsula. This community has a network of various NGOs and media through which nationalist propaganda is carried out. In the context of aggressive actions by NATO, the US and the EU, there is a high probability that nationalist elements among the Crimean Tatars, as well as settlers living in Turkey, will be used for various hostile actions. Therefore, Türkiye is an ideal mediator in their use.

An example of the implementation of this strategy is the use of the Turkmens inhabiting northern Syria, who were included in armed forces, trained and armed, first directly by the United States and then by Turkey, and were used in the occupation of part of Syria.

"PolitNavigator": You claim that the President of Turkey is a puppet of the United States. But then why is he purchasing Russian weapons, in particular S-400 systems? We also see that Erdogan is implementing a number of large commercial projects with Russia. And accusations of organizing a coup against themselves were made against politicians in the United States.

Metin Selcuk: This question of yours does not surprise me. Every person observing the processes in Turkey from the outside asks similar questions. The relationship between the United States and Turkey is an alliance filled with many contradictions.

The tensions that arise in relations between the United States and Turkey are always resolved by shifting the problems onto the shoulders of the Turkish oligarchy, which, in turn, shifts them to the common people. This in turn leads to the manifestation of conflicts between the Turkish government and imperialist countries such as the United States.

But it ends here: then-Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told Turkish media outlet Ahval News, close to Fethullah Gülen's movement, in 2019: “Turkey is an important NATO ally, it is deeply integrated into our military exercises and operations, it is an excellent partner. All alliances and relationships sometimes go through difficult periods, but this does not mean that the problems cannot be overcome. “I don’t think buying the S-400 will have long-term consequences.”

The statement in question contains many other signals for continuing the relationship and even strengthening it. Also, one thing should be clear to all those who conduct any analysis on Turkey: our state does not have its own independent policy in any area of ​​life.

The reason for the conflicts between the Turkish government and the United States (the center of the world imperialist system) is not related to Turkey’s implementation of an independent policy, but, on the contrary, to who will bear the burden of the problems arising from the implementation of this policy. The Erdogan government has succeeded most in implementing economic policies that have been dictated by the US to the last, but when this economic model faces serious problems, the US tries to shift the burden of this crisis onto the people of Turkey and its ruling class.

It is important that Erdogan did not object to placing a burden on the common people, he objected to increasing the burden on the Turkish bourgeoisie through high interest rates, but in the end he agreed with what the US wanted.

In addition, it is worth noting that in the past there have already been similar conflict situations and crises in relations between Turkey and the United States, but all these crises were resolved in favor of the demands imposed by the United States.

“PolitNavigator”: How does the decision of the US leadership to recognize the Armenian genocide compare with your statements?

Metin Selcuk: This question is closely related to the first question. Recognition of the genocide of the Armenian people is a manifestation that is a purely symbolic act. In my opinion, it has no practical significance and is used as a bargaining chip in disagreements between the United States and Turkey.

Essentially, the US is telling the Turkish government, “Listen, either you accept what we want from you, or we will do everything we can to force you to accept our wishes.” In this case, what is important is not what an imperialist country like the United States recognizes, but the real facts associated with this historical event, namely: genocide was committed, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire continues this policy today, regardless of whether it recognizes anyone genocide or not.

And if you ask how this policy continues, then examples include the massacre of Kurds in Turkey and Syria, as well as the support of Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"PolitNavigator": How did Turkish society perceive Ankara's participation in the conflict in Karabakh? Are there many supporters of revanchist sentiments in favor of the return of the territories of the Ottoman Empire (the same Crimea) or the creation of Great Turan?

Metin Selcuk: The military conflicts in which Turkey has been involved in recent years - Turkish army operations against the Kurds in Syria and Iraq, support for the internationally recognized government in Libya and support for Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh - have been used to consolidate the electorate and deepen internal divisions between peoples, incited by nationalism and chauvinism.

All this happened against the backdrop of a deepening economic crisis in the country. Indeed, these conflicts had an impact on society, but they did not attract new supporters of the government; they only deepened the division between government supporters, nationalist elements on the one hand, and relatively progressive people and supporters of the leftist movement. For now, the government's only cards are nationalism and, to some extent, Islamism, both of which have their own target groups.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was once again used precisely to inflame divisions between the peoples of Turkey, with Kurds and all opposition-minded people, as well as the few Armenians who still live in the country, becoming targets for nationalist gangs. All this, naturally, took place against the backdrop of a deepening economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.

But despite all this, it can be said that a large number of ordinary people in Turkey were rather indifferent to this conflict, because, again, for people the main question is how they will provide for their families, and not whether they will or another state to rule a certain territory or not.

And, in the end, ordinary people in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia have nothing to share among themselves. They are all connected by a common history of suffering and misfortune inflicted on them by the ruling classes vying for power and control over various resources.

"PolitNavigator": How realistic is the canal project parallel to the Bosphorus, which President Erdogan proposes?

Metin Selcuk: So here we must return again to the answer to the first question. This project does not belong to Erdogan, it does not belong to the Turkish oligarchy, it belongs entirely to the United States. You will ask why the United States would do this, can't they just use the Bosporus? Yes, they can, no one will stop them, but currently the use of the Bosphorus is regulated by the Montreux Convention.

The convention sets certain restrictions on what can and cannot cross the Bosporus and Daradanelles. To do this, the United States needs an alternative that is actually outside of any international rules, and everything in this alternative is dictated by them. Therefore, I expect that this project will be implemented in the coming years, and again we will often hear Erdogan and his supporters talking about how this is a matter of sovereignty, independence, national interests and so on.

But all this should not deceive you, this project is completely at the service of NATO and the United States, so that they can turn the Black Sea into their “lake” and by any means block Russia’s access to the Mediterranean Sea.

“PolitNavigator”: Information previously appeared in the press that the Turkish leadership in previous years helped with the legalization of oil produced by ISIS terrorists. In particular, it was said that oil supplies were carried out to Ukraine, to the Odessa oil refinery.

Metin Selcuk: All I can say about this is that we cannot rule out the possibility that people close to Erdogan had commercial ties to ISIS. I came across similar publications. However, to be honest, this was the first time I heard about oil supplies to Ukraine.

It is important to understand that Erdogan’s party is the same product and part of the US plan to introduce so-called moderate Islam in the Middle East region. Thus, the States are pursuing the goal of creating a network of puppet governments to protect their interests. Somewhat similar to the dictators in Latin America and parts of Asia who ruled for much of the 20th century. But this plan apparently was not very successful in other countries in the region, and those governments were largely overthrown. Like the aforementioned “moderate Islam” project and Erdogan’s party, ISIS was also created by the United States to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. But since this did not happen, the organization was used to enable the United States to gain a permanent foothold in Syria, using the Syrian Kurds, Turkey and the so-called moderate Syrian opposition, which also consists of Islamists.

There is nothing strange about two American stooges trading with each other. After Erdogan came to power, he very quickly began to accumulate capital, and therefore, over time, a circle of oligarchs formed around him, most of whom were his relatives. Naturally, as in any military conflict, all types of illegal activities flourish and become a very good opportunity for some to make a quick buck without much effort. To the fuel smuggling can be added numerous cases of removal of machinery and equipment from various factories located around the city of Aleppo in Syria, which was a major industrial center. That is why we consider the Erdogan regime to be the same enemy of the Turkish people as the US leadership.

PolitNavigator: How did the tourism business perceive the ban on air travel with Russia?

Metin Selcuk: According to various estimates, the ban on flights from Russia to Turkey is expected to lead to a decrease in the number of tourists by 500 people. For comparison, about 000 million tourists from Russia visited Turkey last year. Considering the fact that the tourism business in Turkey is heavily dependent on tourists from Russia, this will have a negative impact on the sector and further aggravate the situation, especially for small and medium-sized companies. The pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to Turkey's tourism, cutting revenues by 2/2, bringing total revenues last year to $3 billion, down significantly from 12, when the tourism industry generated revenues of more than $2019 billion. dollars.

The government is trying to take measures to mitigate the impact of this expected decline in tourism, and a delegation of health experts from Russia will soon visit Turkey's tourist regions along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. A similar move to renegotiate terms between countries was taken last year in the case of Germany, which imposed restrictions on tourist travel to Turkey.

The governments of Ukraine and Turkey are also expected to take steps to increase the flow of tourists, which President Zelensky said would be a way for his country to show its support for its good new partner. It is difficult to say how much this will affect the tourism sector.

 "PolitNavigator": What does non-tourist Türkiye look like? Even those who do not follow the internal political life of your country know that Western media periodically accuse Ankara of persecuting opponents of the regime, political repression, etc.

Metin Selcuk: Since the latest military coup attempt in July 2016, the situation in Turkey has become even worse for ordinary people. Although the question asked in this way opens up a fairly broad topic with various aspects, I will try to summarize the situation as briefly as possible. Chronic problems such as unemployment, lack of respect for workers' rights, disregard for human rights, etc. have become even more acute. Through new laws and changes made to existing legislation, the de facto state of emergency that existed in the country after the coup attempt became a permanent state of the country.

In many areas of Istanbul and other large cities in Turkey, the streets have literally been taken over by various mafia gangs, which are often at odds with each other. These gangs are mainly involved in drug trafficking, forced prostitution of young girls and women, gambling, racketeering and loan sharking. Many of them consist of Turkish nationalists and are directly or indirectly supported by the authorities and various oligarchic structures. The main purpose of supporting these gangs is to neutralize the influence of the communist movement in certain areas of large cities, as well as to force people to leave these places, which, in turn, will open the way for entrepreneurs who want to develop these areas.

In addition to the terror of mafia groups, persecution by the police and gendarmerie is added. This is especially evident in areas of large cities, where until recently the communists had a strong influence. There, the police very often carry out demonstration raids using special forces, but in addition, local residents are subjected to all kinds of checks by the police every day. The situation is even worse in Turkey's Kurdish-populated eastern regions, where nearly every village and town has checkpoints where heavily armed police and gendarmes conduct checks on people's documents and luggage. In addition, life in the towns and villages of these areas is extremely difficult due to almost constant bans on mass gatherings and access to certain places in the countryside.

Unemployment, which has been a chronic problem for decades, has become even worse amid the crisis created by the coronavirus, but even before that it was very difficult to find a job. Very often, dozens and sometimes hundreds of people apply for advertised vacancies, vying for the same position. For employers, this is a great way to do business, as they can always tell employees who are unhappy with their conditions or pay that there are dozens more at the door waiting to take their place. This, of course, leads to widespread violation of workers' rights. In many cases, workers in various sectors of the economy have not received their salaries for months, and their pension and health insurance contributions are also not paid by their employers, causing further harm to workers. It is not uncommon for a situation to lead to physical violence. Despite the severe restrictions imposed by changes in legislation after the coup attempt, many workers create various trade unions and fight for their rights, holding protests in various forms, but often these protests are met with repression from the authorities.

It is appropriate to note here that after the coup attempt during the current state of emergency in the country, by July 2018, in accordance with the so-called “decrees-laws”, 134 people were dismissed from their jobs for unreliability. Many of these people were indeed supporters of Fethullah Gülen, whom the authorities considered the organizer and mastermind of the coup attempt. However, among them there were also many people with progressive and communist views. All of them were doomed to “social death”, since they are not allowed to work in their profession either in the public or private sectors, and, as we have already said, it is quite difficult to find work in other sectors of the economy. Some of the people fired from their jobs were jailed, others emigrated to Western Europe to escape repression. Some of the people who fled the repression died trying to cross the border into Greece.

Last but not least, we must mention the lack of justice. Courts in today's Turkey are reduced to places where critics of the government are sentenced, while the real criminals who commit all kinds of crimes very often go unpunished and continue to commit their crimes.

In fact, the lives of ordinary people in Turkey are caught in a vicious circle of unemployment, poverty and injustice. So it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of people who responded to a survey conducted by pollsters in early 2018 said their concerns about how they would feed their families outweighed their concerns about how the country's political situation was unfolding.

"PolitNavigator": Why do you place such emphasis on communists? Are the communists the only and main opposition force in Turkey? For example, just yesterday there was news about a rally of the Vatan party near the US Embassy with a proposal to recognize Crimea as Russian.

Metin Selcuk: Yes, it can be said that the communists in Turkey, at least those who still adhere to the principles of the classical theory developed by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, are the real opposition to the authorities in Turkey. It is for this reason that since the emergence of the modern communist movement in the country in the late 1960s, communists have always been subjected to severe repression and have paid an extremely high price for their struggle against the government and its pro-US policies. Over the past six years, repression has intensified again, and this is the main reason why the communist movement is significantly weakened today.

The Vatan Party, or Fatherland Party, in question has its origins in various small political groups that emerged in the 1970s. Its leader is Dogu Perincek. This party positions itself as leftist, but many representatives of this political flank define it as a political chameleon and a kind of Trojan horse in the leftist movement of Turkey. A trail of betrayal has been trailing behind this party for many years. Thus, in the period until 1980, this party published in its newspaper information about many communists and progressive figures who were then killed by Turkish nationalists. We see something similar today in Ukraine – supporters of the Kyiv government are killing oppositionists, receiving information from the “Peacemaker” website.

Over the past 30 years, this party in some periods supported the government's repression of the communists, but in some periods it itself became the object of repression, and then imitated itself as an opposition formation. But since 2016, this party has again supported the government, although it presents itself as an opposition structure.

We can compare it with the various populist nationalist formations that have emerged in Europe over the past 10 years. Therefore, many of the actions that this party carries out are saturated with hypocrisy and pursue advertising purposes.

“PolitNavigator”: During the blockade of Crimea, Turkish nationalists from the “Grey Wolves” group were photographed at the positions of the Mejlis members. What role do they play now in Turkey, and what role can they play in Ukraine?

Metin Selcuk: Today, Turkish nationalists are Erdogan's official coalition partners in the Turkish government. In addition to the Nationalist Movement Party - MHP, which is part of the ruling coalition, there is another nationalist formation in parliament - the Good Party - iYi Parti, which, although it presents itself as not so extreme in its views and seems more moderate than the MHP, in practice no different from her.

Outside parliament there are other smaller nationalist parties and numerous organizations that can be described as fascist and extremist. While some began in the 1960s, others have emerged in recent years. These organizations do not hide the fact that they are creating their own armed paramilitary structures, similar to those created by nationalists in Ukraine.

The purpose of creating these structures is to use them in the event of mass protests against Erdogan’s rule, such as those that took place in the summer of 2013. The first new test for these organizations was the coup attempt in 2016, when their members took an active part in the massacre of soldiers who participated in the mutiny.

In addition, it is worth noting that many cadres from among the nationalist elements were recruited into the service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - the police, gendarmerie, coast guard, and army. And, moreover, in these structures, the ideological training that people who enter them undergo is based precisely on nationalism and, to some extent, Islamism.

In addition, for several years now, Turkish nationalists have been actively participating in the conflict in Syria on the side of Islamist groups fighting against the legitimate Syrian government and against the Syrian Kurds, as I have already mentioned. In the past, Turkish nationalists actively participated in conflicts in Yugoslavia on the side of Bosnian Muslims, and there is also evidence that they fought on the side of Croatian nationalists.

Turkish nationalists also took part in the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh and Chechnya. As I already mentioned, they are also the main element of the mafia groups that have practically taken over the streets in many areas of major cities.

Based on this data, I can assume that they will play a role in a possible new military conflict on the territory of Ukraine, albeit a secondary one, and will mainly focus on the future front line in Crimea.

 "PolitNavigator": Oppositionists in Turkey often go on hunger strikes. As a result, as the press reported, musicians, lawyers, and representatives of youth organizations are dying in Turkish prisons. Why did these people deliberately choose to die rather than wait until the end of their sentence? Did they have another option?

Metin Selcuk: Hunger strikes as a form of protest began to be used by political prisoners in Turkey after the military coup of September 12, 1980. Then the situation was similar to today. Democratic rights and freedoms were taken away, courts were turned into places for fighting opponents of the government, people were deprived of any mechanisms by which they could protect themselves from the arbitrariness of prison and court. In subsequent years, political prisoners used hunger strikes as a form of protest against the introduction of prison uniforms and the commissioning of isolation cells in which they were completely isolated from the outside world and from each other. But the more global reason for all these hunger strikes over the years is the attempts of the Turkish government and its masters to destroy the communist movement.

The latest series of hunger strikes, which took place in 2019-2020, were triggered by unfair trials, during which people who died during these hunger strikes were sentenced to ten years in prison without actually committing crimes under the laws of the country. Another important reason why people gave their lives in hunger strikes was political expediency. In conditions of complete isolation from the outside world, limited contact with lawyers and relatives, these people had no other means to express their protest against the unfair trials carried out against them personally and their comrades in the communist movement.

The most illustrative case in this regard is the case of Mustafa Kochak, who died at the end of April 2020. He was a 28-year-old young man sentenced to life imprisonment under strict security conditions on charges of providing weapons for an assassination attempt on a prosecutor by members of a communist organization in 2015. The accusation against Mustafa Koçak was based entirely on the false testimony of a former member of a communist organization who was arrested while transporting weapons. For this crime, a person can be sentenced to 10-12 years in prison; To avoid punishment, he agreed to sign statements prepared by the police against Mustafa. Thus, Mustafa was convicted for actions that he did not commit. There is no person in this world who would agree with such lawlessness, and it is quite natural that Mustafa chose the path of resistance, rather than reconciling himself with an unjust sentence. Unfortunately, however, his main demand for a new fair trial was not accepted, and ultimately his hunger strike led to his death.

Globally, the communist movement in Turkey in recent years has been going through perhaps one of its most difficult periods. Many of its leaders ended up in prison, others were killed, and others were forced to leave the country. The few who remain free on the outside are fighting for the survival of the movement as a whole. All this was mainly due to the massive repression of Turkish communists, so the movement had to find a way to resist the attack of the authorities. Under the conditions created in this way, the only method was a hunger strike. In general, we can say that to some extent this method of struggle was justified, since the death of musicians, lawyers and public figures in Turkish dungeons found a wide resonance among many and different groups of society, and conditions were created for mobilizing society against government repression.

"PolitNavigator": In Turkey there is an "institute of anonymous witnesses." Tell us in more detail, what is it?

Metin Selcuk: The use of anonymous or protected witnesses is not a new phenomenon in Turkey. Here we must return again to the period after the 1980 military coup. At that time, the police and military used torture, psychological pressure and blackmail to force members of left-wing radical organizations to testify to the police and in court against their former comrades.

The practice has resumed in recent years, again targeting members of communist organizations, although there have also been cases of such witnesses being used in trials against other government opponents. Most often, people agree to become anonymous/protected witnesses after weeks and even months of psychological and physical abuse by Turkish intelligence agents and police officers. They are often threatened and intimidated that their relatives will suffer if they refuse to cooperate.

The evidence that these people “give” is most often prepared in advance by the police or intelligence agencies, and the only thing the “witness” does is sign it. With the help of documents prepared in this way, the police and prosecutors jointly fabricate charges against tens or hundreds of people, who quite often receive harsh sentences, including life imprisonment, without any evidence of actual crimes.

There are also cases where these “witnesses” are virtually non-existent and only names or initials appear in the case documents.

Separately, again in recent years, measures have been taken to encourage denunciation and informants. Citizens are encouraged to make both anonymous denunciations and to provide the police and other bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with information about their family members, relatives, neighbors and friends. This practice is particularly intense in the eastern part of the country, in regions inhabited by Kurds, where for many years various armed groups have waged guerrilla warfare against the army, police and gendarmerie, as well as other security forces. To this system of informers and informants can be added the announced monetary rewards for people included in the so-called lists of “wanted terrorists”, which are periodically updated by the Ministry of the Interior and in which representatives of the communist movement are often included, creating a real danger that they will become victims of another murder without trial or investigation, which is a common practice in Turkey.