The opposition's joint political consensus statement is a call for a return to factory settings!

After launching its struggle against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), Türkiye entered a problematic era in relations with West European countries and the U.S. This era surely includes relations with Israel as well. This has shown that FETÖ is not an organization that can be explained through conventional approaches. An organization that stands out in terms of its religious qualities tragically shaking Türkiye's relations with said countries, is important in every aspect.

The year 2014 is considered a milestone in anti-FETÖ efforts on a legal basis. In any event, Türkiye determined a new approach against this in 2012, because by this time, it was clearly revealed that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saw this organization’s power in the state as a threat. However, we did not know enough about FETÖ’s role in regulating unequal relations between imperial centers and countries within the periphery.

There should be no question about the dates noted above. Those who did not support Erdoğan, and later institutions’ struggle, and opposed them, showed that they too take as basis approximately the same dates. When they said Türkiye must return to its factory settings, they referred to around the same dates. For example, when alliance members, who joined powers as the opposition “table of six,” discuss the contradiction in the difference between Türkiye’s approach before and after, they also took these dates as a basis. The acuity in Ali Babacan and Ahmet Davutoglu’s change of camp is a result of this problematic era, independent of ideology and statements. If this era did not happen, we may not have seen Babacan and Davutoglu’s acute change either.

What is strange, and marks the “end of the world we know” is the emergence of new alliances. We saw during the Gezi Park events that categories such as left and right, secular and religious, and pro- and anti-West lost meaning in quite a short period of time. Opposition groups uniting on the grounds of anti-Erdogan sentiment is not specific to Türkiye alone. This is something that can happen more so when a party in an unequal relationship between imperial centers and countries within the periphery causes a problem. Similar examples have been arising in the last decade everywhere around the world. Similar problems are experienced in numerous countries from Latin America to the Islamic region, and to the depths of Asia. The striking changes seen in opposition segments need to explain through the transformation of more general structures.

Opposition groups in Türkiye insisted that Türkiye return in the new era to its factory settings. What unites them is the desire to return to the factory setting. This desire has blurred ideological categories as well. Analyzing this desire, which makes it easy to gather around the anti-Erdogan sentiment, is quite important in order to understand this period. In this case, we can ask the following questions: Does Türkiye have factory settings? If yes, is there a guide prepared for this? If we consider the answer to both these questions is yes, did they oppose because Erdogan ruined these settings, or are they creating opposition because a new guide is being prepared?

Based on factory settings and guide concepts, we can ask other questions as well. Thus, the contents of the “Table of Six’s Joint Policies Written Statement” can serve as a source for new questions within this scope. There is no harm

in seeing the agreement text as Erdogan’s opponents’ call to return to factory settings. The regulation promise regarding post-July 16, 2016, is a result of the desire to return to factory settings. This shows that they want to re-regulate Türkiye’s relations with West European countries, the U.S., and Israel through FETÖ. Regulating relations with North European countries today is included in this desire. They too stand before us now as a new matter.

When taken into account as a whole, the “Table of Six’s Written Statement” may be considered as a call to return to factory settings. We can see this text as a sum of the opposition discourse that emerged within the last decade. The reveal of the written statement was important. It wouldn't be wrong to say that this statement will play a pivotal role in the Turkish nation’s decision.