‘Urbanite right-wing conservative graft’ not enough to revive withering left-wing opposition

U.S. President Joe Biden planned to topple his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and declared he will support the elements within to achieve this objective. They were going to back the opposition, and thus remove Erdoğan from power. It was clear that this was not a personal decision, and that this was the U.S.’s intention. Everyone knows that the U.S. has a dirty history in terms of organizing changes to ruling governments in many countries. There is a vast body of literature concerning operations carried out by the CIA as well. Additionally, U.S.-organized coups have a very special place in Türkiye’s recent history. It is impossible to interpret the political developments in the post-World War II era without focusing on these coups. They sought to direct our political life through regular interventions. Hence, Biden’s statements are no surprise.

In addition to the U.S.-backed coups, the independence pursuits that followed them have also left a mark on Türkiye’s recent history. The post-coup developments were also discussed within the context of Türkiye’s search for independence. Türkiye was stuck between U.S. interventions and independence pursuits. This was an extremely fragile balance. The dialectic balance collapsed after Feb. 28. U.S. control over the country became more obvious. Türkiye was now at a decision-making stage.

There is no need to list the events individually, but it is safe to say that the political chaos we endured in 2013 signaled a brand-new era. The events were telling us that categories such as right-left polarizations are no longer functional. Conventional ideological groups had no social correspondence. It was during this period that Türkiye was introduced to the power of dependent groups. These groups were very flexible with respect to playing along with foreign interventions. The flexibility of dependent structures, as well as U.S. influence explains the simultaneous operations on both the opposition and the ruling government. The staggering changes in oppositional political moves proved the influence of interventions. Dependent groups had no sociological correspondence, but the presence they gained in deep relationship networks allowed them to drive political outcomes. This meant there was a new dialectical balance for Türkiye. It was now facing vast masses that united on the autochthony and nationalism axis through elitist perspectives strengthened by dependent structures. As a state, Türkiye was right at the center of this emerging opposition. The dependent groups were defeated on July 15, 2016, as well, but they continued their presence ideologically.

U.S. President Biden talking openly about removing Erdoğan from power is unusual in terms of a foreign state. Former U.S. President Donald Trump had previously taken a similar approach as well. They used to make such statements in the past based on Western values. The clear position taken against President Erdoğan is related to the failed Gezi Park attempt in 2023, and the July 15, 2016, coup and invasion attempt. The dependent groups had failed, too. They were experiencing an actual collapse, and its repercussion on other fields was inevitable. The shattering of the alliance formed with Biden’s encouragement should be viewed in this light. These last events further revealed that they are collapsing. They wanted to reform Türkiye. They expressed through the “Joint Policies Memorandum of Understanding” that they seek to return Türkiye to its factory settings on the West’s axis. Hence, Biden’s statement was no longer just a claim – it manifested. The colony economists called from the U.S. were going to take matters into their hands.

But what happened?

Elitist movements that lack social correspondence are always doomed to lose in Türkiye. The “White Turks are Angry” headline is quite meaningful in this context. We are witnessing the anger process of a new group of White Turks. Those who will be angry this time are the representatives of the elitist ideology categorized under the “urbanite right-wing conservative” headline. They are on one side of today’s dialectical balance, and they are taking the lead. This time they are the ones experiencing the detachment that was once experienced by the “left-wing” opposition. This time it is their destiny to become angered, because the centers that support them are in regression, and the world no longer revolves around the West. The temporary signs of activity on the “left” are misleading. They dreamed they would be revived with the “urbanite right-wing conservatives” graft. The excitement of the former White Turks could be seen all over their faces. This excitement misled them to see the solidarity among the elitist dependent groups as a realistic social movement, causing them to disregard the “rural” once again. This thus drove them to the inevitable end.