BY M. ALI KISLALI
RADIKAL- When we were gearing up for its general elections this time last year, I heard the words of three wise men who had done important duties in Turkey. The most senior of them played an important role in saving the country from a great misfortune. He told me that the starting point in the elections could be found by supporting the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). I listened with curiosity. While the third man in terms of seniority stayed silent, the second one said that as long as Deniz Baykal remains CHP leader, the party will never come to power. 'In war, the primary target is important,' he explained. 'You have to direct your forces towards that goal and create a center of gravity. The goal is to make the CHP win elections.'
The CHP's position shaped under Baykal's leadership doesn't allow the formation of a center of gravity within the borders he has drawn. Now the wise men are looking for new ways out. It's uncertain if the challengers to Baykal at this weekend's CHP congress will prevail or not. While some are wondering if this can make the CHP a center of gravity, others are looking at different paths. Some say that during the congress, Baykal should make a statement that will capture public attention and signal that the party's doors are open to those who left it for whatever reason.
The momentum the CHP might get through this invitation, without going into detail about arranging the power to be created by the center of gravity, is also being stressed. Even those who say Baykal opening the CHP's doors this way isn't at all realistic have to agree that finding another way out is hard, because they think the CHP has lost its dynamism and position as a hope for the masses.
It seems Turkey is at a crossroads. On the one hand, there is a political power which showed that it internalized the gains it acquired since the foundation of the Turkish Republic with the votes it won through normal methods and support from external environments based on these votes. On the other hand, there are masses and institutions which believe in maintaining the republic's secular, democratic, social and legal bases.
Some people are trying to spread the demoralizing belief that a force which knew how to remove the threat created by the first group has been neutered. If a political party like the CHP which is based on the republic can't show the driving force and leadership to make itself part of the struggle, where will this center of gravity be established? Before trying to answer this question, we'll have to see if a miracle happens there.