The word normalization has become a word that makes people nervous when heard in the political atmosphere where everything is abnormal in Turkey, due to the meaning given to it after the local elections of March 31, 2024.
In 2024, instead of demanding immediate elections after CHP became the first party in the elections with an overwhelming majority, Özgür Özel, the head of the main opposition party, suddenly tried to soften his relations with the government by saying "Normalization is needed", gave AKP President Erdoğan the mesir paste he brought from the Manisa International Mesir Paste Festival, said "respect for the office" and instructed the CHP group to stand up when Erdoğan took the podium at the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and then AKP had the opportunity to recover.
Naturally, this process was met with a harsh reaction from the opposition voters, and those days now come to mind when normalization is mentioned. Nowadays, opposition voters are faced with an event that reminds them of the anger and disappointment they experienced at that time.
A RIGHT QUESTION!
Özgür Özel shook hands with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was re-elected as CHP Chairman by court decision, at the opening of the judicial year. After the disgrace with the appointment of a trustee to the CHP and the split of the party into two, this is not the first handshake; It also happened at a funeral. At that time, it seemed like a cold encounter among the crowd, but this time, the image reflected in the photo is different.
Citizens then rightly say, if you were going to shake hands as if nothing had happened, why didn't you prevent the founding party from splitting into two?
When the handshake incident was criticized before, some said, "What should he have done, should he have stood up and punched?" He tried to defend Özel's behavior with exaggerated comments such as: Same, when Özel instructed the CHP MPs to stand up when Erdoğan came, they said, "Erdoğan is the president. What should he do, insult him?" As they defended by saying!
Müsavat Dervişoğlu and Bahçeli did not shake hands at the funeral ceremony, where Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu had previously shaken hands. There is a way if desired.
UNETHICAL AND UNCERTAIN
While responding to the criticism about shaking hands with Kılıçdaroğlu on İsmail Küçükkaya's program, Özel implied that he was obliged to do so by saying that he extended the hand of a person 30 years older than himself at the opening of the judicial year, when all the protocol was there, but he also added the following:
“There is no room left in my heart for Mr. Kemal, the size of a pinhead.”
Well, if you don't show this with your behavior, how will the voters know the state of your heart?
Also, the famous Bahçeli dialogue should not be forgotten. At the new legislative year reception in the Parliament, Bahçeli said, "I hope we do not offend each other, sometimes we have things to say politically," and Özel responded, "The important thing is not to show lack of respect and love."
This means that even though they say harsh words against each other in public, they say them politically, but when they meet, they maintain their relations in a harmonious and respectful manner. If the harsh speeches made at rallies and in the Parliamentary group soften when they come together, this unethical and uncertain dual attitude is a show.
DO NOT COVER THE ABNORMALITY SO THAT THOSE RESPONSIBLE MAY PAY THE PRICE!
In politics, body language shows the message given to the public rather than an individual stance. If the anger that a normal handshake would create in the electorate with a politician who took over his party through a judicial coup, whose supporters entered the headquarters accompanied by the police by breaking the windows, who fired the staff as soon as they arrived, who adhered to the policies of the government and therefore caused a great reaction, cannot be imagined, this is a serious problem, but if it is thought about and ignored, it is a bigger problem.
The issue means more than shaking hands, and therefore it is necessary to ask: Is Özgür Özel's function to make abnormal situations in politics acceptable through normalization?
