The meaning of May 14
It is not possible to attach real meaning to the peaceful change of power that took place in Turkey on May 14, 1950, and that was based on the will of the people of this nation without thinking about the quarter-century of bureaucratic domination that followed on the heels of this date.
The aforementioned May date represents a new kind of politics created by the people of the nation. It was only after this date that the rhetoric of a “people’s republic” emerged from being simply political ingredients in Turkey and instead started to play a defining — if sometimes limited — role in public politics. It was only after this date that the “sovereignty” of the “people of the nation” started to become functional and that the individuals of this nation started to become true citizens. Because the state and intellectuals stubbornly refused to accept this development, this process is still going on even today. And for as long as not everyone in Turkey is able to accept that the only real source of an administration’s legitimacy lies with the people of the nation, this struggle is destined to continue.
16 May 2008, Friday
MUSTAFA ERDO?AN, STAR
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