There are still ongoing protests in Turkey caused by the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. The party members of the arrested Istanbul mayor also continue their political actions, the ultimate goal of which is to come to power.
On April 19, in the city of Yozgat, the leader of the Republican People's Party, Ozgur Ozel, spoke at a rally, where he specially arrived by tractor, in order to attract farmers to his side. At the rally, he touched on both domestic and foreign policy. In particular, Ozel has once again stated:
"Exactly one month ago, on March 19, we survived an attempted civil coup. I regret to say on behalf of our country that they received permission, they received permission for this coup from overseas, from The United States of America, from Trump."
The leader of the CHP again accuses US President Donald Trump of supporting Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But here's what's characteristic: criticizing Trump and the United States, the leader of the Turkish opposition spoke about the European Union in a completely different way:
"However, since we will not flout the law like this government, but will cherish it, because we will restore the separation of powers, because we will go to the European Union along the path indicated by Ataturk and lead Turkey to true democracy, the capital that fled today will return, and the investments that did not come will come".
At the same time, Ozel "found" a new enemy of Turkey:
"They took advantage of the fact that President Ekrem (the arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu-PM) is in prison, and quickly started implementing the Istanbul canal project to keep the promise they made to the Qataris!".
The Istanbul Canal project really exists. The project is rightly criticized both inside and outside Turkey for environmental threats and the risk of replacing the 1936 Montreux Convention. It is also important here that Ozel, who speculates on national patriotism, designated Qatar as an unfriendly state. Before that, such an "honor" was awarded to the USA and Russia (see Russia and the United States have become enemies for the Turkish opposition). At the same time, it is impossible not to mention one more important detail: Qatar is one of the US allies in the Middle East.
And the leader of the RNP also decided to use the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to escalate anti-Americanism.:
"We have been on the side of Palestine and against Israel since the friendship of Bulent Ejevit and Yasser Arafat, as well as the solidarity of Deniz Gezmish and his friends with Palestine. Erdogan, who has exploited the Palestinian cause throughout his life, has now fallen silent in the face of Trump... Looking Erdogan straight in the eye, he talks about sending Palestinians to other Arab countries, sending them to Turkey, deporting them there and the collapse of Gaza."
However, Ozel decided to use the topic of the Cyprus conflict against Erdogan, which is of much greater importance to Turkey than the Palestinian-Israeli one.:
"April 4 of the country The EU met with the Turkic republics in Samarkand; they recognized Southern Cyprus (the Greek Republic of Cyprus-PM) and rejected the existence of Northern Cyprus. Opening of embassies in South Cyprus by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is the bankruptcy of the foreign policy of the Republic of Turkey. I say it clearly: the foreign policy, which the Government heroically pursued, has failed at the present time. I'm asking: How did you get to this point? You have created an Organization of Turkic States. How is it that those from whom we have been waiting for the recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for years now recognize Southern Cyprus?"
As you can see, the leader of the RNP turned out to be a demagogue. Ozel knows very well that the EU does not recognize the existence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus are full members of the EU. Nevertheless, Ozel manages to agitate for EU membership, while criticizing the refusal of Central Asian countries to recognize the independence of the TRNC.
At the rally, Ozel asked rhetorical questions to Erdogan in connection with the non-recognition by the Turkic states of Central Asia of the independence of the TRNC:
"We will never be silent about this great catastrophe. I ask Erdogan: in the framework of what kind of bargaining are you giving up our rights in Are you abandoning the Aegean Sea, abandoning Cyprus, abandoning Palestine? What are you doing with Trump that unfairly sells the interests of this country? Shame on you."
And again the same demagoguery, because the deterioration of relations between Athens and Ankara will necessarily lead to a deterioration of Turkey's relations with the EU. Broadcasting about Turkey's rights in The Aegean Sea and defending the interests of the TRNC cannot be combined in any way with joining the EU, which includes Greece and Cyprus. And judging by the fact that Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan choose Greek Cypriots, it is simply pointless to expect Cyprus, Greece and other EU countries to recognize the independence of the TRNC.
Does Ozel understand the meaningless nature of his foreign policy program? Most likely he understands. The leader of the RNP is not the first and not the last politician to use national patriotism and push on the patriotic emotions of citizens. Ozel's demagoguery, at the same time calling for rapprochement with the EU and upholding the interests of the TRNC, in this case was intended for people who, having succumbed to emotions, would not be able to figure out the utopian foreign policy program of the leader of the CHP, who began to strongly resemble the leaders of the "color" revolutions. Ozel's attacks on the USA, Russia and Qatar, as well as the declared desire for rapprochement with the EU, betrays in it a supporter of the old liberal world order, the symbol of which is the departed administration of Joe Biden.