Trying to read news of power from the smoke of a forest fire

Politics is, at its core, a claim to power. There is no political movement that does not aspire to power. It has always been debated what use the political analyses or discourse of those who define their mission in politics as "always being in opposition" actually serve, and it has also been said that even this stance stems from a sense of inadequacy that either suppresses or conceals the desire for power.

That is, of course, unless we are talking about a genuinely cynical posture, the kind that never speaks, never criticizes, and demands nothing from those who govern, in the typical phrase, "just don't stand in my light, I ask for nothing else."

In democratic politics, parties and political movements aspire to power. They become rivals to the incumbent power and oppose it. They set out their claim that, once in government, they will do everything better than the current government. By saying that the current government is doing certain things badly, they aspire to do what it has been unable to do.

Either growing discontent with the incumbent power or the persuasiveness of those who genuinely put forward an alternative allows governments to change hands by democratic means. Where criticisms and the claim to be an alternative to power remain only at the level of assertion, where no persuasive alternative is offered, an opposition that nonetheless increases its supporters can also be an expression of discontent with the government. This is an expression of the fact that politics in a country has in reality become clogged, and that its destructive function, rather than its constructive one, has come to the fore in a dangerous way. In such a situation the opposition does not even feel the need to do anything other than wait for the government to run out its life through a kind of metal fatigue and for its own turn to come.

The fact that today in Turkey the opposition has not been able to put forward any alternative worth debating on any subject shows, to some extent, that it has invested in nothing other than the incumbent power running out of stamina.

Whatever it is that tires the government may be a natural disaster it has to deal with, or the difficulties of a political or economic crisis being experienced on a global or regional scale. From there comes the chance that the government will emerge tired and exhausted despite all its efforts, the chance that a government might emerge from the ashes of forest fires, or the opportunity to snatch the logs carried away by a flood...

Politics should not be this cheap. The prospect of those who tie all their investment and their foresight of power to the exhaustion of their rival, and who feel no need to produce anything themselves, governing the country is frightening in itself. What they have done in history is sufficient guarantee of what they will do. For power, or in the face of the prospect of coming to power, to take no trouble to develop a single well-rounded project on any problem of the country you would govern, and merely to wait for your rival to tire and drop out of the game and for ripe power to fall into your mouth. This is in fact the opposition's entire preparation for power, God forbid.

When CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu went to inspect the forest fire in Marmaris, at the very moment when he was fiercely criticizing the government over aircraft and helicopters in his press statement, the sound of helicopters passing overhead gave him the answer he deserved, through an unbelievable coincidence.

How could those helicopters have known that they were being talked about at that moment?

Since we have mentioned helicopters, unless we are going to look for a conspiracy in their joining the scene, we understand that Kılıçdaroğlu rushed over, with no preparation at all, as soon as he heard of the fire, wondering what opposition opportunity might come of it. Yet very similar situations had occurred in last year's forest fires as well. The Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Interior and all the relevant units of the country had mobilized every means they had and did not have to extinguish the fires, and had used them in the smartest way possible. Since this fire began, too, the Minister of Forestry and the Minister of Interior have not left the scene and have been conducting the firefighting operations with intense effort.

Such is the level of Kılıçdaroğlu's entire preparation for power, as he hoped to have the news of power read to him from the smoke of this forest fire. He is in no state even to take his own precaution against falling into this comical situation by obtaining sound information on a subject about which everyone in Turkey has had average knowledge for at least two years.

And yet, both last year and this year, the incident is taking place in areas administered by mayors elected from his own party. In fact, in these places it is he who is in power. He has no right to make anyone wait until he comes to power. As the power of local government, he can, and indeed should, lend a hand in some part of the firefighting activities.

But although he is aware neither of his own power nor of his authority, he rages, "Where are the helicopters, where are the aircraft!" And as he does so, the helicopters and aircraft flying over his head, as if telling him "you are no use, at least don't get under our feet," and without even understanding the source of those distracting sounds, unable to rein himself in, he goes on: "Give us the task, let us do it. We will do it, we will finish it. We will launch a campaign, and bring night-vision aircraft and helicopters here." This nation has already given what it had to give, what more do you want?

The sad part is that Kılıçdaroğlu, as head of the opposition, is not alone in this primitive approach. All possible precautions against forest fires are being taken, the firefighting efforts are by no means behind world standards, a superhuman effort is being made, and the fires are put out. This time comes a grumbling that would drive even the most level-headed person to fury, such as "They put it out when it approached the President's residence."

It is even said that these places are being burned to build hotels and open them to settlement. The Ministry of Forestry immediately issues a statement and releases footage: Forest land does not cease to be forest land because the trees on it have burned. It is reforested and its forest character continues. If this legal explanation is not enough, side-by-side and overlaid images of last year's burned forest areas and their present state would open the blind eyes and satisfy the hungry ones.