I follow with interest the ‘openings’ the parties have made on citizenship. I must admit, the discussions about citizenship that are continuing—weakly, to be sure—in our country these days seem very funny to me…
On the other hand, they also make me think!
First, I should point out that I did not get involved in the issue while citizenship was being hotly debated in our country. I waited; I waited for a statement from politicians about the solution I am going to discuss! Unfortunately, I have not seen a politician offer an opening or develop a policy in this direction…
The statements made by both the governing parties and the opposition parties about citizenship as the election approaches really amount to this: We do not want to give up this argument and political investment.
Let us spell out the situation in our country more clearly: Let us imagine that there are two parties in our country, and call one of them ‘Party A’ and the other ‘Party B’.
Suppose Party A advocates a policy of citizenlessness and says: —We granted citizenship to this few people during our time in office!
Party B, meanwhile, advocates a citizenship policy and says: —If we come to power, we will grant citizenship to this many people.
Let us elaborate further and add some accusations: Party A accuses Party B, saying: —This many people were granted citizenship during your time in office; you granted citizenship to criminals, to them, to those others.
Party B responds:
—Actually, you granted citizenship to these people, those people, and them too. Publish the real figures…
In the end, Party A, which wants to profit from these debates, is really telling voters: “Hey, citizens, we don’t grant citizenship to just anyone who comes along. We scrutinize every case. If you are worried about citizenship being handed out too freely, vote for us!”
Party B, which wants to benefit from the same situation, is really telling voters: “Hey, citizens, we’ll grant citizenship to your spouse, your friends, your loved ones. If you want your spouse and friends to become citizens, vote for me!”
So, although there seems to be a serious gulf between the citizenship policies of Party A and Party B, fundamentally neither hesitates to use the political argument I mentioned above!
Given all this, the question is:
“Who is harmed by this political argument?”
When Party A is in power, people who truly deserve citizenship cannot become citizens!
When Party B is in power, both those who deserve it and those who do not become citizens!
Both are problematic!
But are politicians unaware of this problem?
Of course they are aware; at the very least, I think the figures they cite and the accusations they trade while the issue is being debated should make this ‘awareness’ clear…
So, what is the way out?
The way out is clear: the question “What do other countries do about this?” points the way.
Having looked at a study on this subject, let me say this much: Other countries have clear citizenship policies!
That is, it makes no difference whether Party A or Party B comes to power! People living in those countries who are not citizens know how they can become citizens. The issue has been taken out of the realm of politics.
By the way, I would like to ask those who are already thinking, “We have criteria too; we have laws in this area as well”: In that case, why is there a political debate about this citizen-less-ness?
I hope we will meet again when our politicians think about society’s interests rather than their own political gains…
Pay attention to your surroundings, keep them clean, and please be respectful in traffic!