SEP Central Committee Statement on Election Results

Laborers, Youth and Progressive People,

By deciding to hold an early election hurriedly before the economic crisis crashes the workers, peasants and artisans, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has gathered the fruits of this move and achieved his main goal in the elections of 24th of June. On the other hand, despite the establishment of a great chauvinist blockade with Afrin, Kandil and Manbij military operations, the extreme right AKP-MHP coalition could not go beyond from the last year’s referendum. It is worth knowing that because the historical experiences shows us that the right wing parties which evaluating the “conquest “ atmosphere made great leaps all over the world. However, in Turkey, the total vote odd of AKP and MHP decreased from 61% to 52% since the election of 1th November. All resources of state, unilateral media power, state of emergecy conditions and oppression must also be taken into consideration. Nevertheless, AKP could only recover the job by its chores with thousands of tricks, as a reflection of the power of the resistance mechanism against to the one-man regime.

On the other hand, the June 24th elections once again showed that there is no shortcut from the AKP dictation. Therefore, nobody can dreams that freedom will come easily, just by voting or by protecting the votes. We did have emphasized many times: Freedom wants labour, organization, and patience. Even a very small part of the millions who are saddened by the electoral victories of the AKP will make a difference in flow of life if they put their hands under the stone and participate in the disciplined work of organized fighting. It is neither realistic to expect a change without showing this self-sacrifice, nor a real “freedom” to come true in this way. These lands are supposed to produce a spirit of struggle and a fighter generation.

During the June 24th elections, culture and identity politics continued to dominate politics. As a result, Erdoğan experiences and outburst of his votes in poor, uneducated neighbours. The Class Struggle is the key to open that lid. The inclusion of class radicalism and the establishment of a political consensus on these bases will ensure that the political preferences of poor and unorganized labourers change. This does not only mean that the AKP is not voted, it will also mean the organizing of the working class, and even the struggle for a very different life through awakening.

The CHP has made intelligent moves at its own disposal to design bourgeois politics on 24 June. However, this political engineering was not enough as it was seen. The populist rhetoric of Muharrem İnce, who distributes beads for everyone, did not find a response to himself in the poor labouring regions, even if he created an sentiment for anti-AKP bases. Similar criticisms can be made for HDP. What is needed is a labourer’s spring. We have no choice but to work day and night for this spring.

On the one hand, the AKP and the MHP have formed a coalition government, while the country is on the verge of a major economic crisis. In this aspect, the raid election process and the result is a sign for Turkey’s return to 90s. The decrease on the votes of AKP to 42% and not reaching the majority in parliament will increase the power of MHP. This means that Erdoğan is in need of co-operation with the MHP, and when the country enters an economic crisis, the tensions between these two will lead to major problems for the Erdoğan. Therefore, Erdoğan’s new political system brings back the old-style coalition governments.

In the coming period, the AKP and Erdoğan will face great challenges in managing the country. The upcoming economic crisis will lead to significant reductions in labourers’ living standards. So the fight never ends and there are conditions to strengthen the fight in the coming period. Therefore, instead of being despondent, it is necessary to struggle, organize, and take the hit. We emphasize once more, we have only one solution: active, organized, socialist struggle!

The Central Committee of Socialist Laborers Party