I thank all of my friends and beloved ones who were protecting ballot boxes today to avoid possible fraud during the municipal elections. I had been hopeful about the future of my country, especially after the Gezi Park Protests. I had been delighted to see a well educated new generation, who were actively participating in politics and had strived for justice. Not by only Tweeting, but by protesting by civil disobedience. However, I am disillusioned by the unofficial results of todays elections. The results once more remind me that elections is a numbers game. Pure numbers game. And in a country where you have: - 6.5 years of average schooling (OECD average 10.9), - 3.6 million people who cant read and write, - An HDI ranking of 90, - Very high income inequality, - Millions of people supporting political parties with a holigan-like attitude (goes for all parties) ... maybe its naive to trust in the power of democracy. I can easily guess many of my friends will find my comments elitist, or simply wrong, but I cant stop to agree with what Winston Churchill once said: The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. So, what is the solution? I believe the solution is to continue what we have been doing in the past 6 months for the next years to come in a much more structured manner. We cant expect individuals to change in 6 months, nor should we expect societies to change. Therefore, we need to understand that its a matter of time, and we need persistence and resilience. And as Edmund Burke says: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Good night. Note: Im deliberately writing in English so that my non-Turkish speaking friends can have an idea on whats going on in Turkey at the moment.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 22:55:45 +0000
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