Will Turkey’s Erdoğan make a comeback?
I was talking about a “beautiful summer” after the election results.
I have started that summer season. But wherever I go, I come across this question:
“Will Erdoğan come back?”
People are relieved, but that question is still on their mind.
* * *
I’ll give my answer. Be prepared for the bad news... Yes, he can come back…
* * *
Let me give you the good news…
He can come back but only provided that…
He will resign from the presidency, head his old party and go for elections.
If he gets the required majority, he will again be prime minister.
* * *
But that old ego and arrogance…That attitude of “I came out of the ballot box; I do as I like...”
“I will instruct the prosecutor I want and send anyone to jail I want,” type of stances…
That rudeness reflected in his notorious, “excuse me he is Armenian” or “an Alevi judge” expressions…
That hate...
The habit of seeing everyone who did not vote for him as enemy, as the other; that humiliating, condescending attitude…
That won’t come back.
* * *
If you asked me whether Erdoğan can come back, I would say, “He is a president who has been elected by more than 51 percent. He is in his place…”
And his place is whatever the constitution stipulates.
In other words, he does not define the limits of his legitimacy, but, rather, it is defined by the constitution of the Turkish Republic.
* * *
If you were to ask “Will he come back to politics?”
I would say, “Yes, he might.”
* * *
But if you ask the question “Will the nightmare come back?”Now I would say, “No... That won’t come back...”
What I want to say is that Erdoğan can come back; but a Tayyip… Never again...
If you ask me to what degree I am sure of that…
Don’t you think I was vindicated when I said, “It will be a nice summer”?
Well, that’s how sure I am of what I said.
Lessons learned
We have once again left behind a temporary regime.
We came out of it again with the ballot box.
What did we learn?
- Be it military or civilian, authoritarian regimes can come but can’t maintain their positions
- The Turkish nation does not want “Turkish style presidency.”
- Arrogance, rudeness and looking down upon others backfires.
- In the nation of this country, even the conservatives want a secular regime.
- Using religion for political interest is not as effective as it is assumed.
- No one in this country has the power to oppress or eliminate somebody else.
- The effort to raise religious generations to create vengeful generations has hit the wall.
