The audacity to win

No, Turkey is not going through the same election and campaign days that U.S. President Barack Obama went through. 

And no, even his presidency would have been a joke had he ran for office in Turkey. But yes, unfortunately President Obama will be coming to a country that has physically shut down a TV station by force. Live. On TV. And that is a shame.

An old Turkish saying is extremely popular among media members these days: "Let your tyranny grow bigger, so your exit will be quicker." On Oct. 28 two mainstream TV channels that are owned by a businessman who sympathizes with Fethullah Gülen were shut down by the police and only the leftists dared to call it a coup d'état. Tar?k Toros, the editor-in-chief of Bugün TV, is an old colleague who has worked with veterans and pioneers like Ufuk Güldemir. His tears and his heartbreaking words echoed what many felt in their hearts. "I could not protect the channel. When your screen hits black, you go home," he said, "But we are not out of words yet."

As the country heads for another vital election, Turkey's troubles are far from over. Toros' desperation should be a sign for the intelligentsia, media, academia and judiciary to go back into themselves and reflect again on why there is no unity in anything against the unjust.

The Gezi Park protests remain as the uncontested solidarity movement this land has seen in the past 50 years. So why then, again, do the pieces fall apart every time one of the opposition gets hit? Are we not even as smart as the birds that create a flock to scare the vultures? 

Look at the latest drama. Secularists are mad at Bugün TV and Kanaltürk because of their pro-government stance during the Ergenekon trials. Liberals, who were die-hard supporters of...