ÇETİN AY SAYS, "THIS IS NO LONGER POLITICS... IT'S A CRISIS OF SHARED VALUES..."
Societies can coexist with differences. But they cannot coexist when shared values are gone.
What is happening today is not political competition.
This is a moral monopoly.
Belonging has ceased to be a bond and has transformed into a weapon that generates legitimacy.
Polarization is no longer political.
It is hostile.
The resulting picture is clear.
The field of social legitimacy is seen to be drifting towards a fragmented structure.
In the language of political science, this situation has a clear name.
An identity war built on moral superiority.
The issue is no longer who governs better.
The issue is who is considered more acceptable.
I am more patriotic.
I am more native.
I am more nationalistic.
I am more Atatürkist.
I am more religious.
These sentences are not expressions of preference.
This language is a closed and hierarchical field of legitimacy built on belonging.
At this point, politics retreats.
Loyalty takes its place.
Objection ceases to be about difference.
It turns into a justification for suspicion.
Within the same society,
who is inside,
who is outside, is silently determined.
This is not a matter of belief.
This is the untouchability of belonging.
At this point, common values are used not for sharing,
but for sifting.
Speaking is not for uniting,
but for dividing.
Who will be considered part of this society,
who will remain outside, is determined not by words, but through this language.
When this mechanism operates,
the inclusive language of the state narrows,
its sphere of representation shrinks,
society creates invisible boundaries within itself.
The problem is not a difference of opinion.
The problem is the silent redefinition of who will be granted legitimacy within the same society.
The homeland ceases to be a common ground.
It begins to be spoken of as if it were the title deed of one side.
The perception of partnership between the state and society weakens.
It is perceived as a tool seized by the other side.
At this point, a critical threshold is reached.
The opponent is no longer an opponent.
The opponent transforms into an entity that is not considered morally legitimate.
After this stage,
political language does not produce results,
it produces reflexes.
After this stage,
the loser does not recognize the ballot box,
the winner cannot represent society,
legitimacy cannot be established from above.
Anger spreads horizontally into society, not from top to bottom.
It is clear that this picture is the product of a long process.
Today, the entire society is forced to live with this burden.
The state does not immediately collapse at this stage.
But society begins to disintegrate.
Because trust, along with the institution,
is sustained by society recognizing each other as legitimate.
As long as this language continues, the capacity of elections to produce solutions weakens.
Social tension is not released through the ballot box.
It accumulates.
And spills over into other areas.
This is the real danger.
It is silent.
It becomes normalized.
And by the time it is noticed, it may be too late.
These lines are not a political position;
It is a reflection of my sense of responsibility towards the continuity of my state and the integrity of my beloved nation.
Çetin Ay
President of BWA