A super budget for war

While budget debates in Parliament continue, this year, as in previous years, a major portion of the budget was allotted to weapons and defense, as well as interest payments, rather than health, education, or social areas. The presidential covert appropriation was one of these reserved and controversial topics.

The implicit appropriation available to the President under the 2021 budget was 6.7 billion TL. Within the 2022 budget, the covered appropriation was increased by 30% in total, reaching roughly 9 billion TL.

The highest rise in covered allowance occurred for the first time in June 2021. With 463 million TL, the disguised appropriation budget set a new high in June.

The concealed appropriation spending in the first six months of 2021 was 1 billion 348 million TL. On the other hand, covert appropriation totalled 28 billion TL during the AKP governments.

What does this increase in the allowance, which is normally used for intelligence and defense under the law, imply?

According to HDP Van Deputy Sezai Temelli, this expense cannot be isolated from the defense and war budget.

Another explanation for the rise during the AKP time, according to Temelli, is the “economics of fascism.”

Sezai Temelli responded to ANF’s questions.

“There is no budget right now,” you claimed during your budget negotiations address. What does your definition, as well as the unequal distribution of funds in the budget, tell us about the regime?

The budget of a country reveals its political outlook. Although it appears to be a book of accounting, it actually reveals political power’s preferences. In a nutshell, that’s it. As a result, the presidential state system’s budgets have remained consistent during the last four years. They make it very obvious what they aim for.  When we consider the disparities and injustices that have resulted from the current economic crisis, we see this budget option.

The government has two options. Insistence on war policies and a pro-capitalist stance. They followed that path and, as a result, the Kurdish issue has reached a deadlock, and poverty is spreading. Instead of addressing the Kurdish issue or poverty, the administration believes that shifting resources to the capital will ensure its own survival.

On the other hand, they are attempting to keep this power by concentrating cash in the arms industry through its war programs and consolidating racist and nationalist voters. These two government options clearly indicate which strategic framework the presidential state system is based on.

In the 2022 budget, the presidency’s disguised appropriation expense was increased by 30%. A concealed appropriation of 28 billion TL was employed throughout the AKP government. What does the law’s increase in the allowance, which is primarily employed in the field of intelligence and defence tell us?

A covered appropriation is a fund created to be used in extreme emergencies. We know that from Tansu Çiller’s time, the covered allowance has been used mostly for dirty war. In other words, the appropriation of “dirty works” in quotation marks, which had been unavailable in the budget since the 1990s, was provided with this. Nobody hides it any longer. Obviously, it became a fund for works that the laws were unable to specify and determine. As a result, the presidential state system and covert appropriations became items to be considered under the war budget. Thus, in recent years, this has become a rising appropriation.

Does the fact that the amount allocated for Armament and Security Expenditures this year is 246 billion TL imply that there will be an even larger increase?

Yes, 246 billion TL has been allocated for “Armament and Security Expenditures.” In addition, the budget includes an additional 100 billion TL, bringing the total to close to 350 billion. This amounts to nearly 20% of the total budget. When we add the covert allowance and the things concerning supporting the security policies that are buried in other items, this rate rises to 23%. This is a massive amount. It means that when there is so much poverty and structural difficulties, nearly a quarter of a country’s budget goes to war; it is one of the key reasons why the economy, whose collapse we are discussing today, has reached this point.

We can see that this inclination is now the embodiment of a totally toxic regime. “Do you realize how much a bullet costs?” the president said in a space of rapid armament. Now it’s the people’s turn to ask: “Do you know how much a loaf of bread costs?” 

As an example, consider the following: A job opening for a naval gunnery officer was recently held. “We are making these for the Blue Homeland in our waters,” President Erdogan remarked. For starters, the manufacture of these cannons is a very old industry, but a lot of money has been invested into it. However, there is no ship to mount those cannons aboard. Will it be affixed to fishing boats? The production of battery cars has come to an end. Then will they show up with the ball stuck in the fishing boats?

The situation has now devolved into tragedy. The economy has collapsed, that people are starving and poor and that we are unable to make ends meet. This voice is heard from nearly every group, including healthcare professionals, public servants, workers, youth, women, and farmers. Despite this, they continue to produce cannons! This is fascism in action. While people wait for a solution to their economic issues, the only explanation for spending the majority of money on UAVs and weaponry in a country is the economy of fascism.

In addition to the worsening economic situation, the National Security Council (NSC) issued a statement labelling those who expressed it as “economic threat components.” This was seen as the NSC viewing people who speak out against the economy’s current direction as a threat. Is it possible to say that the MGK statement is complementary to the overall war budget?

The National Security Council has been in place since the 1960s. This structure was designed from the start to protect the regime’s existence rather than security. For nearly a century, we have recognized that this administration is shaped by a unionist mind. The regime is under such pressure that it becomes increasingly dictatorial in order to protect itself. It has gotten to the point where it is interfering with daily living, since it has removed all areas of freedom within this framework.

Everyday existence is bound up to economics. P paying the rent, sending children to school, making a living, and all of that. If you cannot make the ends, you should show your stance on it. If your demands are not met, you object to it.  If these things do not happen, you will begin to use your most natural rights against the government as part of an organised structure. That is how politics works. If MGK is uncomfortable with the discussion of economic problems and takes steps to prevent them, the regime is in jeopardy. Despite the fact that individuals are exercising their most basic rights in daily life, the government are using oppression to introduce the tutelage system into their homes. The Turkish regime is one of tutelage. We also had years of faulty democracy, but now an even more authoritarian government of oppression is spreading.

We should not forget that the most crucial reason for the current economic crisis is the standstill on the Kurdish issue or the shift of resources to the war. Ignoring the link, as other parties have done, is equivalent to “burying your head in the sand,” and ignoring one of the most fundamental difficulties of our country. It is a high-risk strategy to judge the economy just through macroeconomic data and to assume that these are cyclical crises that can be overcome. We know, however, that these are not conjunctive. Even if we look back 30 years, there are severe fundamental issues. These policies will eventually lead to the country’s collapse unless actions are taken to address the underlying issues. The Çiller era’s 1994 crisis and the Ecevit era’s 2001 crisis are fundamentally founded on two issues: the Kurdish question and the class problem caused by impoverishment.