Turkey in the election period - experts' opinions

In Turkey, on the eve of the local authority elections on March 30, the political situation remains unstable. While the proceedings in connection with a corruption scandal involving government officials continue, the authorities are taking desperate measures to save their tarnished reputation. One of the big events was Erdogan's recent pardon of dozens of senior generals accused of a coup attempt. Several experts assess this step by the authorities before the elections as an attempt to find support in certain circles. At the same time, under intense pressure from reactionary forces, Erdogan decided to block Twitter, which also caused a lot of noise. Turkish politicians and Burhan Ozkoshar Mehmet Perindzhek spoke to VK about the political situation before the elections, which, after Crimea, has become the second most discussed topic in the Black Sea region.

According to Ozkoshar, today one can say with confidence that there are reactionary forces, a so-called "parallel state", which aims to dislodge the current Erdogan government, and the arrests of senior officials held in December only confirm this. "Today, on the eve of the elections, both the opposition and these reactionary forces are trying to pull people onto the streets," says the analyst.

According to him, at some point, the authorities realized that the generals had been convicted unjustly, and by releasing the servicemen they took revenge on these parallel forces.

"After the corruption scandal, feeling pressure on its government, the AKP decided to make the legislation fit its interests, and this you can see in one of the new laws, according to which all sorts of unlawful acts against the government, including riots, will be assessed as terrorist acts," he says.

Ozkoshar notes that the people and the authorities realized that secret games are being conducted against the government. "Thus, a plan to change sovereignty and a democratic state was being implemented. This plan was put into practice through the implementation of parallel state representatives at all levels of authority. But the authorities just realized the essence of the event. Briefly, we can define this as follows: a parallel state was going to implement a plan to change the way of life of the country," he says.

Ozkoshar also praised the government's decision to release thge disgraced generals who were convicted for several years for an attempted coup, adding that this pardon only added senior military supporters to the ruling party.

In turn, Mehmet Perindzhek, the son of one of the disgraced generals, Dogu Perindzhek, notes a very high level of political instability on the eve of elections that will determine the outcome of the subsequent history of Turkey. Mehmet Perindzhek, who had served his prison term and was released last year, also expressed concern with the current situation, which could affect the country's sovereignty. According to him, today the most important thing is to prevent the collapse of the country, although the election situation is extremely tense. He notes several threats that could shake the country. First and foremost there is the economic crisis that the country will face after the elections. Second is the continuing threat from supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which demands autonomy for Kurds in Turkey. "Today it is important to put aside all the talk about the "cluster" affairs, which so much excited the public, and it is important to understand that there are certain threats to the Turkish state. Primarily, it is important to understand that we must unite in the name of integrity. The independence of Turkey is foremost," he says.
According to him, the US also has plans to bring the country into chaos, just developing a script on autonomy for Kurdish separatists, and trying to implement these plans primarily with the PKK.

"Today, neither the ruling party nor the opposition has explicit resistance to external challenges. Instead of discussing the above-mentioned problems, the government blocks access to Twitter and thus attracts more pressure. But the opposition is not much better: it discusses all sorts of backstage problems," he says.

Speaking of the recent amnesty, during which dozens of senior military officials were released, he noted that this is the result of many years of true patriots' struggle for the rights of civil society. "People realized that the arrests were illegal and, in fact, were directed against the army. And, as a result, the last few years witnessed a very large popular movement, involving hundreds of thousands of people, who forced the authorities to retreat," Perindzhek says, adding that another contributing factor was the anti-corruption operation on December 17, including the events in Gezi Park, when the authorities recognized their vulnerability. "In turn, the mass demonstrations in recent months in several cities have led to disagreements between Gülen and Erdogan," he says. Perindzhek notes that the AKP is losing its influence in the country, and is no longer able to lead Turkey, "and, in a fit of confusion, Erdogan is looking for support: how can you explain the pardon of the generals otherwise?"

"Besides, there are very big problems in relations with Gülen and the people. And with this pardon the authorities secured a manoeuvre for further action," Mehmet Perindzhek concludes.