ÖDP General Chair Alper Taş: The state sides with ‘Yes’ and the people with ‘No’

ÖDP Co-Chair and June Executive Committee member, Alper Taş, says that the constitutional amendment is an Erdoğan- Bahçeli package. Taş, stating that a regime in which the legislative, judicial and executive are concentrated in a single hand is called fascism, said, ‘They are trying to dress it up with expressions like “home grown” and “national”. The name of this is “Turkish-style fascism”.’ Taş, stressing that there is a need for a constitution based on equal citizenship that will embrace society, says, ‘“No” will bring a breath of fresh air to the country and will dispense with the language of polarisation.’ Taş, who is calling on citizens to go to the polls, replied to Cumhuriyet’s questions. Taş responded as follows to our question, ‘You as the United June Movement are campaigning for ‘No’ in various provinces of Turkey. Where have you been until now? What kind of difficulties and troubles have you encountered?’

‘We have been to many provinces, chiefly Rize, Artvin, Manisa, Balıkesir, Ordu, Samsun, Edirne, Tekirdağ, Malatya, Sivas, Kars, Tunceli and Isparta, and met citizens. We have a letter campaign. We are distributing letters by hand at shopping centres, markets and homes. We are looking people in the eye and speaking to their hearts and telling them why we are campaigning for ‘No’. Of course, in doing this we encounter certain difficulties, what with ‘No’ campaigners being called terrorists as a result of the AKP’s polarising policies. We underwent physical attack in Denizli, Ümraniye and Maltepe. We have also been hindered and arrested by the state law enforcement agencies in many places. The state stands in front of ‘Yes’, while the people are behind ‘No’. We are campaigning under these conditions.

We see that, with the people standing by ‘No’ in spite of all the intimidation, ‘Yes’ supporters are unable to defend this. The people feel uneasy, wondering what they want that they have not managed to do in fifteen years and if they are taking us into a monarchy. Frankly, ‘No’ supporters have nobody to relate to in political terms. This is because there is an effort by various circles in society, particularly right-wing circles. Erdoğan is uncomfortable with “single man” and “dictator” comparisons. Everywhere in the world, a regime in which the legislative, judicial and executive are concentrated in a single hand is called fascism. Ruling circles express this as being “Home grown and national” as though it were peculiar to us.

If these things I listed are concentrated in a single person’s hand, then the name of this will be “Turkish-style fascism.” In defending “Yes”, they say, “We’re saying “Yes” because FETO and the PKK are saying “No”.’ With this failing to take on, they are trying to make the country into the centre of a cross-crescent quarrel. I mean, are we to return to wars of religion in the 21st Century because the ruling party is bringing in the presidential system? So, we are looking, not at who is saying what, but at what the constitutional package is introducing. And, we see that this constitution is taking the country into a single-man regime.’

Socialists’ demands

Alper Taş summed up what socialists’ demands are in terms of a constitution as follows: ‘For us socialists, the basic issue is how the constitution is made. A process in which the people participate, that includes rounds of debate, in which the media has equal access to resources and in which every citizen’s view from villages to city quarters is expressed is indispensable for us. Coming to content, we argue for, not the concentrating of power in a single hand, but its deconcentration, that is the separation of powers. Free education, free health care and the most basic human rights are components that for us must be included in the constitution. We also want a libertarian constitution under which freedom of thought and expression can easily be defended as well as, and above all, policies that are based around workers, civil servants, students, farmers, villagers and tradespeople, and that grants equal citizenship rights to women, young people, Kurds and Alevis. Only a constitution of this kind can meet the needs of society.’