[Marxism] Dramatic Decline in Turkish Wages

[Louis Proyect]

Emrah Goker wrote:
> 
> While the real decline in wages (compared to 2008) is not yet
> dramatic, I can follow from the "secret" world of Turkish research
> companies (serving "crisis tracking" statistical packages, reinforced
> by consumer surveys, to concerned businesses) that (a) purchasing
> power did not recover since November 2008, (b) small neighborhood
> businesses (according to surveys of pharmacies, groceries, small
> liquor stores, etc.) are having a very bad time since January 2009,
> and (c) the attempt to boost car and electronic good sales by lowering
> the VAT did not work.

Leaving aside the stats, the word I get from relatives in Istanbul and 
Izmir is a worsening economy.

Speaking of Turkey, here's an article from the latest Harper's (snatched 
from behind their subscriber's firewall, so sorry for the length) on a 
Kemalist coup plot called "Ergenekon". It was translated by Sibel Erol, 
the wife of my elementary and intermediate Turkish language professor at 
Columbia Etem Erol. I have to confess that after taking one class in 
advanced Turkish with her, I dropped out of the class. I think I am 
doing quite well in remaining youthful in my 64th year, but short-term 
memory is beginning to fail me. I can remember what I learned in high 
school Spanish better than what I learned in intermediate Turkish last year.

Harper's Magazine, July 2009
My so-called putsch
By Ozden Ornek and Ayse Sibel Erol (Trans.)

 From the diary of Admiral Ozden Ornek, who served for two years as 
commander of the Turkish navy, beginning in August 2003. The diary has 
been cited as evidence in the ongoing trial of more than one hundred 
alleged members of a group called Ergenekon—including journalists, 
academics, and retired military officers—charged with plotting to 
overthrow the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His 
Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has roots in Islamism, gained 
power in the fall of 2002. Excerpts from the diary were published in 
2007 by the Istanbul weekly Nokta. Its offices were soon after raided by 
the government, and it ceased publication. Ornek has claimed that the 
diaries were forged, but an official probe upheld their authenticity. 
The investigation of Ergenekon was launched in the summer of 2007, after 
the discovery of weapons caches in various Turkish cities. In April, 
General Ilker Basbug, who last year became chief of the general staff, 
denied that there was a conspiracy in the military to undermine 
democracy in Turkey. Sarikiz means “blonde girl.” Translated from the 
Turkish by Ayse Sibel Erol.

september 2, 2003

In the morning, I paid a visit to Aytaç Yalman, commander of the army. 
Ibrahim Firtina, commander of the air force, and Sener Eruygur, 
commander of the military police, joined us. We talked about what 
actions we should take. I offered to prepare an analysis of the 
situation and to come up with some recommendations. They accepted my 
offer. It seems that from this point on, I will have to devote less time 
to the business of the navy and more to following political developments.

september 22

We decided that if the head of the Grand National Assembly welcomes us 
to the opening of the assembly on October 1 accompanied by his wife, who 
wears a head scarf, we won’t attend. We also reached these decisions:

—The proposals prepared for persuading AKP to change its course will be 
presented to Hilmi Ozkök, the chief of the general staff, this week.

—If he agrees with us, then we will proceed with our undertaking.

—If he does not agree that something should be done, we will say to him, 
“Either you resign or we will resign.”

Everyone says Ozkök, the chief of the general staff, won’t do anything 
because he thinks like the government. The last thing the nation needs 
at this point is tension among the military. We have to act carefully, 
and we have to make sure we act in unison by winning over Ozkök.

At the end of the meeting, Firtina got up and said, “Let us shake 
hands.” All four of us placed our hands on top of each other’s and shook 
hands. This seemed funny to me.

september 26

I worked on the special report till lunch. It is very well prepared. The 
report sounds a bit like a memorandum for a coup, but we asked Yalman to 
soften its language. If Ozkök does not agree with it, either he will go 
or we will go. The way the country is headed is awful. Somebody has to 
say “stop” to this. Otherwise we will become another Iran.

september 30

Ozkök apparently had several objections to the report. Most important, 
he does not believe that the government wants a shar’ia state. I said to 
Yalman, “If the situation goes on like this, my resignation letter is in 
my briefcase. I can submit it and leave immediately. I don’t care.”

october 7

A law concerning the religious high schools was proposed in the Grand 
National Assembly. The government is deliberately acting against the 
Republic and the principle of secularism. We brought this up with Ozkök 
at dinner. I told him the law might force us to accept the graduates of 
religious high schools at the military academies in the future. He said 
to me, “You’re exaggerating. The religious high schools are just like 
any other high school, except that they have additional courses on 
religion.” I could not believe my ears. How can a mind-set developed 
through a religious training, one used to explaining phenomena by the 
existence of a grand creator rather than through the logic of cause and 
effect, adapt to a scientific education? The truth is that this law 
would mean the fanaticization of the university. Yalman said as much to 
Ozkök, who was discomfited. His expression changed. He scowled.

october 8

None of us thinks that Ozkök is a man of courage. We believe that he is 
trying to buy time for the AKP government by delaying our reaction. He 
is acting as if he is in a secret agreement with the government. 
Although he knows that we are losing prestige in the eyes of the public 
and losing the people’s trust, he is still trying to get along with the 
government. Even his soft objections to the AKP are pro forma and 
perhaps scripted. It is as if his mission is to keep us waiting and 
soften us. Is he the government’s man? Is he a fundamentalist?

december 3

At a meeting Ozkök gave everybody present an opportunity to speak, 
starting from the people of lowest rank. At the end, he said, “I thank 
you. It’s good that everyone is in agreement. I agree with 80 percent of 
what was said. But there are also points that I don’t agree with. I 
thank all of you for speaking openly, but I have no intention of issuing 
a memorandum. This government has to go. We will handle this through 
democratic means. I believe that there are many things we can do.”

I think this was an historic meeting. We relayed the message to Ozkök 
that we are not in agreement with him. He, for his part, understood that 
he is alone. He is insisting on resisting despite appearances. But it is 
too late now. He has gone down a path he can’t retreat from.

december 6

We all became worried when the amendments to the regulations for 
organizing Koran courses were published. Then we were also disturbed 
when the AKP proposed the opening of dervish lodges. Yalman said, “I’m 
very much put out by these, and made a plan for myself. If nothing 
happens in January, I will resign.” We all objected to this and decided 
to make a plan of action:

—Win over the media.

—Contact the university presidents and have the students demonstrate on 
the streets.

—Encourage the unions to do the same.

—Hang posters on the streets.

—Contact various organizations and support their anti-government statements.

—Undertake these actions throughout the whole country.

—All of the above was given the code name “Sarikiz.”

february 3, 2004

Firtina and Eruygur are pushing for a coup on March 10. Yalman is trying 
to stop them, saying the time is not yet right. I told him my thoughts: 
“The public has to be ready for a coup; that is, the public must want 
it. There have to be newspaper headlines asking, ‘What is the military 
waiting for? When are they going to take over?’ as there were before the 
September 12 coup in 1980. Plus, we are now experiencing circumstances 
not applicable to previous coups. Our economy is broken and is entirely 
dependent on external sources. If we can’t get credit from the outside, 
our economy will crash, and people will suffer. We are not ready to take 
on this responsibility. Another thing: is the military unified? If we 
have differences, our end will be disastrous.” I said that for all these 
reasons, we are not yet ready for a coup. But these are not permanent 
obstacles. We have to follow what is happening in Cyprus. Our greatest 
strength is the subject of Cyprus.