The Declaration by 6 party leaders after 26 January summit—full text
Date:26Jan2023
Presidents of CHP, IYI Party (IYIP), Felicity Party (SP), DEVA Party, Future Party (GP) and Democratic Party (DP) held the 11th meeting of Table of Six, the current moniker of the six party main opposition alliance, (also called the Nation Alliance in the text). The joint statement released after the meeting states, “It is not possible for Mr. Erdogan to run once again in the presidential elections to be held on 14 May.”
CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, DEVA Party Chairman Ali Babacan, Democrat Party Chairman Gültekin Uysal, Future Party Chairman Ahmet Davutoglu, Felicity Party Chairman Temel Karamollaoglu and IYI Party Chairman Meral Aksener convened at 12.00 at the IYI Party headquarters.
After the closed-doors meeting, a joint statement was published with the signatures of the chairpersons. The statement said:
“As six political parties, we held the eleventh meeting of our cooperative journey, which we pursue with determination in order to deliver our country to light, on this blessed Laylat al-Raghaib Day, hosted by IYI Party Chairman Ms. Meral Aksener”.
First of all, we share the joy of our nation and the whole Islamic world on this Holly Day, and pray to the Almighty Allah that it shall bring joy forever.
REACTION TO SWEDEN AND THE NETHERLANDS
In today’s meeting, we first evaluated the current developments.
We view the despicable attacks on our holy book, the Quran, in Sweden and the Netherlands as a hate crime, strongly condemning the governments that turn a blind eye to them. In this delicate period, when our people are preparing to go to the ballot to exercise their free will and determine the fate of our country, we are also carefully monitoring the external provocations that coincide with every such period.
REACTION TO ERDOGAN: DECLARATION OF CANDIDACY IS A VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION
Turkey is currently governed by a regime that acts with no regard to justice, law or order. In this framework, it is not possible for Mr. Erdogan to become a candidate in the elections to be held on 14 May, unless the Grand National Assembly of Turkey votes for early elections. Our view is in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the relevant legislation which are so clearly arranged that there is no room for obfuscation. The President’s announcement of his candidacy for the third time, in contravention of the Constitution, is another black page he has added to our history of democracy. We declare to the public that we do not accept this act that tramples upon the Constitution.
However, we are sure that our nation will respond to his transgression, committed in the eve of the 100th anniversary of our Republic, with a clear “Enough”. On the other hand, we state that we are ready for the election Erdogan called on 14 May, convinced that our people will give him the proper answer.
WE ARE READY FOR ELECTIONS
No matter when the elections are held, it is the Nation Alliance (meaning Table of Six) that believes in the rule of law, not the People’s Alliance (AKP-MHP), which only believes in the power of the mighty. Even though the government tries to cover up its loss of popular support with all kinds of unlawfulness, we will disrupt this game with the support we receive from our nation and restore Turkey to a liberal democratic state operated by the norms of law and order. To change the one-man order at the ballot box with the will of our nation, we call upon Erdogan that we accept the challenge.
NO TO AKP-MHP WOMEN’S DRESS CODE AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION
The constitutional amendment proposal regarding freedom of women to choose the garb to be worn in public, submitted by the People’s Alliance, was written in a way that discriminates women on the basis of “religious belief” , rather than forever guarantying the right to wear the headscarf. The text of article, which pretends to protect the headscarved woman, actually has the opposite effect. A motion by our side was submitted to remove this expression, which questions the woman’s freedom of dress and the purpose of using the headscarf, from the text. Our proposal, which would very clearly bring a full constitutional guarantee to women who cover their heads or not, was rejected by the People’s Alliance. The rejection reveals the disingenuous aim of turning women’s right to wear the headscarf into political exploitation, as is always the habit of People’s Alliance.
COMMON POLICIES TEXT TO BE UNVEILED ON 30 JANUARY
The Presidential Government System has become an existential problem for our nation. Replacing the common will of the nation with the will of a person is a clear sign of subjugating the state to a personal whim. In our meeting today, we took very concrete steps to win the election and govern our country on the basis a strengthened parliamentary system, which our people largely favor. We will share the Roadmap of the Transition to A Strengthened Parliamentary System, with the public after a final evaluation, together with the transparent process we choose for determining our joint presidential candidate.
At this meeting, we also reached an agreement on the Common Policies Memorandum, which we will share with the public on January 30th. The concrete targets, policies and projects we have prepared for the priority issues of our country; ranging from the fight against poverty, to women’s rights, from cyber security, to the law of political ethics, from the fight against corruption in the public sector to the reverse brain drain, from the defense industry to disaster management, from vocational training to the housing and shelter crisis, from the fight against drugs to the problems of our tradespeople, from border policy to agriculture. We have identified nine emergency policy areas with seventy-five set of actions to solve them.
This memorandum of understanding will serve as proof that the Nation Alliance will solve Turkey’s pressing problems in every walk of life.
HOW THE CANDIDATE WILL BE DETERMINED
In our meeting, we also talked about how we will determine the Presidential candidate to represent the Nation Alliance.
We would like to announce here that the six political parties are working in consultation, consensus and reflecting the preferences of the people in our effort to choose the presidential candidate. Our people see the hope of achieving the prosperity and re-democratization that our country deserves in the unity of the six parties. Their yearning imposes a historical task on us. We know that this is Turkey’s fateful moment. Our people have entrusted us with their lives, property, future, with the hope of breathing in a civilized, free and prosperous Turkey. We urge our people to rest easy, because the six parties will complete this task with a sense of duty and service to the public.
We declare once again that;
Turkey’s 13th President shall believe in the parliamentary system, shall be a champion of fundamental rights and freedoms, the candidate of democracy lovers.
Turkey’s 13th President will be the candidate of an Alliance that screams loudly “Enough! Let the people speak!”.
Our next meeting will be hosted by the Chairman of the Felicity Party, Mr. Temel KARAMOLLAOĞLU, on Monday, February 13, 2023.”
Translation by Atilla Yesilada, who tried to remain, as literal as possible, except in phrases which needed to be explained to make the context comprehensible to the English speaking world.