As we all know, opposition parties in Türkiye have been heavily criticizing the government for about four years. Such criticism also laid the foundation for self-destructing weakness and negativity on their side. Amid these discussions, the opposition parties neglected to prepare a vision for the future. They were content with only criticizing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) policies without suggesting alternative solutions.

What has the AK Party done in the meanwhile? In its 20-year history, the AK Party has primarily taken essential steps in Türkiye's democratization process. To start, the AK Party changed many wrong practices we all thought were unchangeable. The AK Party governments eliminated torture in police stations, defined and took courageous initiatives to resolve the Kurdish problem like nobody else in the past and prepared Türkiye for the European Union process by complying with the bloc's criteria.

Legal system, democracy

Although the opposition has continuously criticized the legal system and democratization, a conscientious academic or observer should admit that there is not much gap between Türkiye and Western European countries when one compares democracies and legal systems. But of course, this is important to note that only Westerners have prejudices and judgments about Türkiye's democracy, human rights and legal system. As a result, Türkiye no longer evaluates its issues via such an inferiority complex. It is a self-confident country that is aware of what it is doing.

On the other hand, the AK Party has been able to conduct investments, including services in local governments, and developments in technology and education, with nearly 200 Turkish university campuses integrated with all the necessary facilities. It has also solved almost all infrastructure and structure problems related to schools and universities, with millions of students receiving an education.

Defense, civilian tech

The defense industry has recently emerged as a stellar feature of Türkiye. One should not consider the defense industry as a stand-alone sector. Defense is the leading industry of technological development, which triggers the development of many other sectors. Defense technologies then turn into civilian technologies in other sectors, paving the way for making life easier for the people and contributing to the country's economy.

While the government was busy with this structural progress, which drastically changed the country’s destiny, the opposition parties were experiencing a lack of vision and made no preparations for the future. For this reason, these days, some very harsh and heavy debates continue, especially between the Good Party (IP) and the Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP).

Contrary to the opposition's expectations in recent weeks, there has been an increase in the votes of the AK Party. Although the struggle between the IP and the HDP seems ideological, I think that the fact that the AK Party government has not lost votes played a significant role in this fight. In the end, what was the expectation? That the government would weaken, lose votes and opposition parties would come and take its place. The facts in life seem to emerge in the opposite direction of the expectations of the opposition parties.

'Table of six'

All opposition parties sitting at the so-called table of six, including the invisible member of the table, the HDP, have some expectations about this country. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) wants to be in power. The HDP wants to regain power without breaking ties with the PKK terrorist organization. At the same time, the terrorist organization wants to get stronger again. As a newly established party, the IP wants to get a share of the power, and all four small opposition parties at "the table of six" want the lion's share, despite their small votes. But politics is very realistic art. It is not possible to meet the expectations of each one individually.

Sometimes it is relevant to use medical terminology in a political sense. For example, we use "tissue" as "social tissue" and metaphorically use paralysis, gangrene or cancer to describe social disabilities or diseases. Türkiye’s opposition, which could never cope with the real problems of the country and couldn’t put forward an appropriate Türkiye vision for the future so far, has entered into deep conflicts within itself. I think it would be appropriate to diagnose this as the "early-onset dementia" of the opposition.