A Brand-New Profession: Political Trader

Has ASELSAN been sold or not?

Will military land be sold or not?

Would they go so far as to sell even the state’s most vital institutions?

If questions like these are coming to your mind, you have not got to know your counterparts at all. However many extremes you think of with every sensational allegation, saying “they couldn’t go that far”, they will go all the way. They will sell everything you think they cannot sell and do everything you think they cannot do. With such backing behind them, unfortunately, it does not seem very possible to prevent this either.

The power behind them is not only the masses or partisans who support them. The supporters of that party cannot be the only ones to blame for the fact that a party which has hit political rock bottom, which is rotten through and through and dripping with crime, and which should not even pass the electoral threshold, is still the strongest contender for power.

How innocent are the developed countries that claim to support democracy and freedom but treat as ‘democrats’ the dictatorial political leaders whose weaknesses they exploit? Do the political parties that cannot oppose even half as much as they should, and do not feel in their veins the troubled times the country is going through, bear no responsibility?

Are businesspeople and artists who stay silent as long as they themselves are not touched not guilty towards society? How right is the position of trade unions that are the voice of the powerful instead of workers and civil servants? Are civil society organisations that adopt a culture of allegiance instead of offering criticism and constructive solutions, and that have distanced themselves from the people, not as responsible for this course of events as the others?

A smart trader buys goods that have a market at a good price with the capital in hand and sells them at a good price when the time comes. A good politician sets out with the right policy and qualified people, makes achievable promises that will satisfy the target audience, and when the time comes reaches the position he aimed for.

So do you know what a successful Political Trader does?

He gains political and material advantage by selling, without batting an eyelid, goods obtained without investing any capital, or that do not belong to him in the first place, or anything that brings a return.

Of course, these qualities alone are not enough to do this job well. He must also have certain merits (!) that his rivals and other people lack. Some of these qualities may be found in ordinary people too. But it is essential that the person in question has most of them. In fact, today there are even examples who combine them all.

• They can lie easily, as if saying something perfectly normal. Sometimes lies pour out of their mouths even where the truth would do no harm.
• They are very ruthless and impatient towards people likely to stand in the way of their goals.
• They are selfish and arrogant. They think of no one but themselves and give no one priority. They do not believe anyone could do their job better than they do.
• Sometimes against those they see as enemies, sometimes against people they do not know at all, they may make attempts for self-interest and, if it suits their interests, turn a blind eye to deaths.
• They rarely feel real love and respect for anyone. They classify people as useful or harmful and behave according to their interests.
• Just as they can never give up what belongs to them, they believe they have rights and control over everything that belongs to others.
• They get angry very easily, are aggressive towards those around them and are full of inexhaustible hatred towards their rivals.

Let me say it before you ask…

Yes, in my view Erdoğan is a successful political trader. That is the reason he has ruled the country unrivalled for years and is still in power despite the unforgivable crimes he has committed. He knows very well how to market his deeds, even those he has not done. Not only does he never admit his mistakes, he can easily turn his rivals’ most private mistakes into material for political gain. He exalts concepts that resonate in society, such as religion, language, nationality and justice, whenever he wishes, and tramples on them when they do not suit him. At the same time, he can sell without batting an eyelid anything he thinks will bring a profit in the end.

• State-owned factories, companies and facilities that took years to build and that are a source of jobs and bread for many citizens,
• The land and plots, every inch of which holds the blood of martyrs and for which we gave our lives,
• The soldiers, police and privates who serve their homeland,
• Religious rulings, spiritual values and, if no one objects, perhaps the holy book,
• The comrades with whom he set out, the people who serve him,
• Even his children and family, so as to create victimhood…

Now who could claim that someone so reckless would refrain from selling institutions that hold state secrets and companies that bring profit…

Yes, Erdoğan is a political trader who knows his business well. But there are some things that, if you do them, make you neither a good person nor a right one.

The hostility of Erdoğan and many AKP officials and supporters towards Atatürk and his comrades is a known fact. Perhaps the real reason for their negative view is that, while they themselves are so inclined to sell and destroy, Atatürk and his comrades embraced founding and building. The saying “Everything is known and gains value through its opposite” also confirms what is happening. Thanks to Erdoğan and the AKP, the value of Atatürk and his comrades has become all the more apparent, in my view.