As I’m on a long-distance call with my parents, we discuss and share all the hilarious reactions to Turkish Officials blaming the power outage during election night on a cat. The headline at Huffington Post for the story is, “Turkish Official Blames Election Night Power Outages On A Cat.” Who can take that seriously? I couldn’t keep quiet at the title alone.
The electrical blackout spiraled the country that firmly believes in the possibility of change. Following that, officials had the audacity to hold an interfering cat liable. Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on April 1, “A cat entered a power distribution unit. It was the cause of the blackout and it’s not the first time that it has happened.”
The BBC listed the four top April Fools Day trends, of which one was Yildiz’s comment. As bizarre as it is to announce this on April fool’s and expecting listeners to believe it, he did. Congratulations, we had a great laugh at the comments and pictures accompanied by them.
How fair can an election be if ballot boxes suspiciously disappear, are found burnt, and there are inconsistencies among the boxes and report sheets as well as in the computerization process? Fraud seems to be the accurate clarification. Many Turks, including myself, call for a recount. Opposition parties deposited to the higher election board (YSK) more than 2,000 appeals to recount suspicious boxes.
In all seriousness, who can take Turkey’s authority figures seriously anymore? Blocking Twitter and YouTube in a so-called democratic country takes integrity away as it is (let alone granting access again after a two-week ban). Corruption sweeps across parliament would have crossed the line, you’d think. General tremble in the Erdogan circle would’ve been it. Along with the results of the local election everyone seems to be in disbelief.
Erdogan’s political party is crumbling apart and serving nothing but smelly, rotten fish to its followers. There’s no trust to rely on, and he will be made fun of and revolted against until he understands the meaning of respect, transparency and democracy.
