THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN “SILENT DEVILS” FOR TWENTY YEARS ARE NOW INTENT ON CRITICIZING ERDOĞAN!

Strangely enough, those who change their political colours fastest turn out to be among those who once swore their loyalty most loudly.

There are certain characters who have hovered around the ruling party for roughly twenty years, making their presence felt in one way or another at various levels, from local branches to party headquarters. Here is how to recognise them: while in office, they hover around the powerful, compete to get into photographs with senior officials, and try every possible avenue to preserve their status.

So far, this could be considered an ordinary political story. The real disaster, however, is the attitude these characters adopt when they witness injustice, wrongdoing, favouritism, bribery, illicit gain and appointments of unqualified people unfolding before their eyes.

They saw how unqualified people came to occupy those offices, but said nothing. They personally witnessed favouritism, bribery and illicit dealings; some became part of the machinery, while others looked the other way. They chose to be “silent devils” so that their positions would not be threatened and their authority would not slip away. Through their silence, they became the greatest accomplices to everything that went wrong. After all, they were adept at concealing their mistakes, their illegitimate dealings, or the wrongdoing they had witnessed without speaking out, behind the extensive services and major projects delivered for the country by a successful leader held in high regard by broad sections of the public.

Now we see that, with a slight shift in the political winds and renewed activity in the opposition, these characters have become gripped by fear of a change in government. Those tongues that once uttered not a word have suddenly been loosened! Supposedly engaging in “self-criticism within the party”, they are trying to embrace opposition rhetoric by adopting a stance that sides with the opposition.

But is this sudden change of mind sincere?

– Of course not.

For those who yesterday remained silent about wrongdoing and unqualified appointments in full view of the public to suddenly assume the role of “principled critics” today is glaringly incongruous. Their concern yesterday was neither to support a cause nor to concern themselves with the country’s problems, and it is no different today. Yesterday, their personal interests required silence, so they kept quiet. Today, those very same personal interests and fears for their future dictate that they speak the language of the opposition.

Let no one be fooled when those who yesterday bowed to whoever held power begin saluting those who might hold power in the future. At a time when political pragmatism is on such naked display, this dissimulation neither serves the cause nor amounts to sincere self-criticism. At most, it is the same old, familiar performance by those trying to abandon a ship they think is going to sink.

For my part, throughout these twenty years in power, my faith in the leader’s devotion to the cause has been unwavering. He is a leader whose sincerity I do not doubt, because I have witnessed him having to contend with countless difficulties to overcome an obstacle placed before our cause by those among us who adhere to the global civilisation of savagery. He has continued his struggle by widening “the sacred breach opened in the ramparts” to reach the goal he believes in. Despite the characters around him who feed greedily on public resources through illicit means and constitute a substantial majority at every level, from local to national, he has succeeded in becoming the Talut of our age. This road to the rule of Davut, heralding the reign of Süleyman, will surely be traversed, by Allah’s grace, with the handful of devoted companions around him who have passed the divine test, and humanity throughout the world will bear witness to this truth. Allah willing.

Fehmi Yağlı

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