Could he declare himself 'Caliph'?

He does not want to leave the local elections to chance. 

That is why he has begun to dangerously raise the political stakes.

It has now become blatantly obvious that until March 31, he will stir up and inflame the nationalist, but even more so the religious, vein as much as he can; he will declare the CHP "terrorist" and "enemy of religion"; he will ensure that the right wing aligns behind him. 

Since his political algorithm is aimed solely at winning elections and staying in power, he wants to go to the ballot box with an electorate that is sharply polarized and even hostile toward one another.

His calculation is more or less this.

He has won all elections so far this way. 

However, the Atatürk crisis that erupted in Saudi Arabia in a way he never expected has raised question marks regarding the "political behavior" of the nationalist base that has supported him one way or another until today.

Although the politics he conducts over the blood of martyrs seems to work in fortifying this wing against the CHP, it has emerged that when it comes to Atatürk and the Republic, the nationalist mass in question—at least a portion of it—can act with national reflexes rather than religious ones.

He cannot ignore this situation due to the delicate balances that keep him in power.

Because under today's conditions, the election is not a sure thing, and a possible loss of support from the nationalist base could make his job quite difficult.

For this reason, he took his precautions without wasting time.

Knowing that a result from the local elections that goes against him would force early elections, he made a critical maneuver that would whet the appetite of the religious segment and more strongly fortify sects and communities.

He brought the Caliphate to the agenda.

On the very first day of 2024, sects and communities appeared in the heart of Istanbul with a reactionary show of force under the guise of an association or foundation, under the name of a Palestine rally.

Bilal undertook the organization, and Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca, former Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Şentop, and former ministers turned new deputies Hulusi Akar, Süleyman Soylu, and Nurettin Nebati did not leave Bilal alone.

The caliphate flags unfurled in the rally area and the activists sharing the rally footage on social media with the caption "the caliphate is coming" already showed that the issue was not support for Palestine.

Turkey's constitutional order was being openly targeted. 

The prosecutors of the Republic were ignoring this rehearsal for a reactionary uprising.

The appetite of the religious mass was being whetted, and the message "if we emerge stronger from the election, we will bring back the caliphate" was being given openly to sects and communities.

The show of force was not limited to the shouts for Sharia in Istanbul.

The next day, a person who went to Anıtkabir shamelessly cursed the republic and called for Sharia.

Tension is being escalated in a controlled manner, and the society's reaction is being measured.

While all this was happening, the words of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Naciye Selin Şenocak from Istanbul Aydın University, who defended the caliphate in 2015, fell onto social media. 

Although she gives the appearance of a republican woman in form and manner, what she said in the capacity of a so-called academic was nonsensical. 

The academic lady was saying, "The point I especially want to underline is that the caliphate should be brought back to the agenda and this should be done under Turkey's leadership. Within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an organization is needed where Muslim countries come together, that is, where Muslim countries, in political cooperation, can address threats directed against them, protect their rights, and regulate the distorted structure within. Turkey can lead this because it still exists in the Parliament."

Perhaps she was unaware of what she was saying, or she was knowingly and willingly engaging in hostility toward the republic.

Maybe she had discovered the shortcut to the university rectorship! We do not know.

While trying to understand what was going on, the caliphate issue suddenly took the front row of the agenda. 

The Palace media also quickly began to stir it up.

In fact, the government had tested the waters before. It had tried to understand what kind of stance the opposition, or rather the CHP, would take through the discussions revolving around Sheikh Said.

In other words, the signal flare was fired with the Sheikh Said discussions, and when the CHP's fresh political novice Chairman Özgür Özel intended to apologize to the descendants of Sheikh Said instead of displaying a strong and uncompromising approach, the government saw that its strategy of pleasing the religious segment could be implemented without encountering any major trouble. 

Özgür Özel, like Kılıçdaroğlu, was hesitant to take a strong stance against religious people and reactionaries. He, too, was concerned with currying favor with right-wingers like his predecessor.

Let us come to the answer to the question in the title of the article...

Can he bring back the Caliphate?

The Caliphate was abolished by Law No. 431 on March 3, 1924, in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The first article of the law stated, "The Caliph has been deposed. Since the Caliphate is essentially inherent in the meaning and concept of government and republic, the office of the Caliphate is abolished."

Let us do some mental gymnastics and ask, what would happen if AKP deputies, upon instructions from the Palace, passed another law on March 3, the day the caliphate was abolished, repealing Law No. 431!

The next day, if a caliphate office were re-established by a Presidential decree...! And then, with a parliamentary decision, he himself sat in this office...!

Let us continue to do mental gymnastics and let's say, thanks to Kılıçdaroğlu's magnificent political genius, the path to a constitutional amendment on this issue is opened with the support that the former AKP political Islamists who entered the Parliament will give to the government...!

It is not difficult to predict that this would create a strong wind in the religious segment, and moreover, this wind would soon influence the segment that defines itself as nationalist and conservative, even if they are not religious.

Since 2002, the government has done and dared everything that people said, "they cannot do this much," "they would not dare to do this much." 

Even remembering what happened after the AKP lost its parliamentary majority in the 2015 elections makes one's hair stand on end.

The principle of secularism, the unchangeable articles of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court, and so on!

For the government, all of these are just stories...

In the event of such a step, the rabid religious minority will take the bit between its teeth and turn everything upside down by shouting for Sharia in the streets.

The rehearsal for this has already been done in Istanbul.

Who will stand against this! Is it Özgür Özel, who tries to curry favor with the children and grandchildren of reactionary traitors, or Meral Akşener, who is waiting to find an opportunity to get under the wings of the AKP? Is it the military, the police, or the judiciary?

The political Islamist mentality that holds the country has already torn the Constitution to pieces, including its first four articles.

Secularism has been on the shelf for a very long time.

When one looks at income distribution, poverty, corruption, and the decay in the justice system, it is very easily seen that there is no trace of a social state governed by the rule of law in Turkey. 

Nobody cares about the Constitutional Court anyway.

The military, police, judiciary, bureaucracy, whoever is left, all look to the Palace.

Although the circumstances and conditions for today and tomorrow manifest in an extremely unfavorable nature, and it seems they will continue to do so in the near future, the Republican and Atatürkist vein in Turkey still maintains its power of resistance in a part of society that cannot be ignored.

No matter what he does, the one-man regime cannot fully take over the country.

He is aware of this too! 

He must have thought that the reaction toward Saudi Arabia could trigger an uprising process similar to Gezi. The possibility of such a popular movement emerging again after 2013 is almost a nightmare scenario for him.

For this reason, this Republican and Atatürkist vein in society must now be much more visible, decisive in politics, and must be something that encompasses the opposition, not something that the opposition encompasses.

It is clear that fear does not provide any benefit to the inevitable. 

Local elections are a very important opportunity. It must absolutely and definitely be evaluated, and a strategy and understanding of cooperation where reason prevails must be developed immediately so that hopes can flourish.

Otherwise, after that, the deluge.

Let us conclude the article with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's words that keep our hope alive: "Gentlemen and the nation, know well that the Republic of Turkey cannot be a land of sheikhs, dervishes, disciples, and madmen. The truest, most real path is the path of civilization," and let us put a period to our article.