World press on Kemalists' role in Turkish politics (October 31, 2012)

On October 31st Hurriyet published an article by Mustafa Akyol entitled 'When Kemalists feel oppressed'. "If you would like to see how Turkey has changed in the past decade, you should examine what happened during Republic Day on Oct. 29," the article reads. "On one hand, things that happen every Oct. 29 were repeated – ceremonies were held in big cities to commemorate the foundation of the Turkish Republic 89 years ago, wreaths were placed in front of Atatürk statues and official receptions were organized."

"However, a few political parties and organizations refused to join the events this year. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the tiny, yet vocal, Workers Party and the Society for Kemalist Thought were the leading abstainers. We can roughly call all of them Kemalists – a label they would carry with pride," the author says. "These Kemalists not only abandoned the official celebrations, they also wanted to organize “alternative” ones, as they believe the republic has been overtaken by “enemies within” (i.e. the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its Islamic allies), and they wanted to separate themselves from the new establishment," the article reads. "In other words, probably for the first time since the establishment of the republic, the Kemalists defined themselves as in opposition to the status quo."

"If this trend continues it will not be a big surprise to see the Kemalists, who have been the most ardent supporters of state authority at the expense of freedom, to emerge as the new defenders of freedom. They will be doing this only for themselves but will not be alone in conforming to this unfortunate Turkish political custom," the author concludes.