Tayyip's ambition

A foreign journalist friend of mine had come to Turkey to cover the November 3, 2002 elections, which brought the AKP to power.

He was a Brussels-based correspondent for one of Finland's leading newspapers.

After the voting process began, we visited some polling stations in Ankara, spoke with citizens, and tried to get a sense of the pulse of the electorate.

Unlike us, Western journalists prioritized talking to ordinary people rather than politicians.

Naturally, since the places we visited were predominantly in Çankaya and its immediate vicinity, my foreign journalist friend must not have thought that the path to power would open for the AKP, because, “The atmosphere here is not as it is reflected in Europe. The AKP was supposed to finish the election in the lead, but it seems that won't happen” he had said.

I told him that he should wait for the votes from Central Anatolia and the Black Sea region.

At the end of the day, the AKP received 34.3 percent of the votes, securing 363 seats and forming a single-party government.

However, Tayyip, who was under a political ban, could not enter Parliament and could not sit in the Prime Minister's chair.

This was naturally the focal point for the foreign press members who had come to observe the election.

How could the leader of a party that won the election be left on the outside due to a political ban? What kind of democracy was this?

They were constantly asking this question.

At that time, Turkey had not yet veered off the path of the European Union. Since the Copenhagen political criteria had been drilled into all of us like a creed, the situation appeared extremely unfavorable to those who viewed the matter from this perspective.

If Turkey was to enter the European club, Tayyip's political ban had to be lifted immediately. Moreover, political Islamists were supposedly at peace with democracy, and the elections in Turkey were an important experience that would show the whole world that Islam and democracy could coexist.

After all, the Kemalist regime was antidemocratic and defended military tutelage. Moreover, what was secularism anyway! It was long out of fashion. Everyone should be able to experience freedom of belief to the fullest!

Without exception, every foreign journalist I spoke to on election day, including my friend, believed that Tayyip was a democrat and that he would lift the military's dark shadow over the regime and bring democracy to Turkey.

In my own way, I was trying to explain that Islamists conducted politics through 'taqiyya' (dissimulation), that none of them were true democrats, and that without secularism, Turkey would soon be plunged into medieval darkness.

After a few futile attempts, I gave up and began to watch the Western journalists canonize the political Islamists.

The day after the election, we went to Tavukçu on İnkılap Street to have two double rakis with some tavern-style rice.

Half-jokingly, I said, 'Drink as much as you can now, because the next time you come, you might not be able to find a place to drink raki in Kızılay...'

He paused for a moment, furrowed his brows, and asked:

- You're serious, aren't you?

He wanted to know why I was so anxious. I sat down and explained it at length. But I couldn't convince him. According to him, I was “sharp secular” in other words, a staunch secularist.

A day later, he asked if he could interview Tayyip, so I called Cüneyd Zapsu, who at that time had not yet been kicked out of Tayyip's inner circle, and told him that a foreign journalist wanted to meet with him.

Tayyip's appointments with the foreign press were subject to Cüneyd Zapsu's approval.

No one could meet with him unless he gave the green light.  He attached great importance to relations with the foreign press for the sake of his legitimacy.

In the end, we secured the appointment, but we were to conduct the interview on the way back to Istanbul, in the small VIP lounge at Esenboğa.

I accepted, and we hopped over there.

Cüneyd Zapsu was once again doing the translation.

First came the classic questions. Tayyip gave classic answers that made it abundantly clear he had prepared for them in advance. He spoke at length about how the country's direction was toward the West, that they had no intention of interfering with anyone's lifestyle, and that they wanted to make Turkey a member of the European Union as soon as possible.

He even said that they cared about freedom of religion and conscience, but that they had no issues with secularism.

When the Kurdish issue was brought up, he referred to northern Iraq as "Kurdistan" and explained that relations with Talabani and Barzani would be developed.

After underlining that he had taken off the 'National View' (Milli Görüş) shirt, he felt the need to emphasize that they were not hostile toward the West, and especially not toward America.

He was speaking in an extremely moderate tone.

He was careful not to make mistakes or say anything controversial. He was projecting the image of a reasonable, logical, and mature politician. He was even able to easily dodge trap questions.

Then, “The modern, secular segment in Turkey looks down on you. They will never allow you to become Prime Minister” came a highly provocative question, somewhere between a half-pass and a shot.

Tayyip swallowed hard, waited a moment, narrowed his eyes, and turned to Cüneyd Zapsu.

“Translate it exactly as it is” he said.

Cüneyd Zapsu tried to hem and haw, but after receiving such a sharp look, he bowed his head.

Tayyip had taken his foot off the brake.

He switched to a barrage of fire.

He vented his spite and hatred toward the military, the bureaucracy, and, even more so, toward the urban, elite, and educated segment he perceived as the 'White Turks'.

Businesspeople, TÜSİAD, and the press also got their share.

He railed against Hürriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, and Cumhuriyet. He listed journalists, columnists, and television commentators by name, stating that there was no place for them in the new Turkey.

Regarding newspaper owners and editors-in-chief, 'They will be lining up in front of me in six months.' he said.

I was horrified. It was the first time I had witnessed him speaking so openly and harshly. The Tayyip from a few minutes ago was gone, and someone else had taken his place.

In fact, he had reverted.

But what has stayed in my mind over the 22 years that have passed, "They have enjoyed the cream of Turkey until today, from now on it is our turn" was the sentence to that effect.

The interview, which was planned for 20 minutes, lasted a full hour and a half.

After we went outside, we lit cigarettes in front of the door.

I was expecting a sentence from my foreign colleague like “you were right.” But he merely settled for saying, “This is not political ambition, it is personal ambition, and it is very dangerous for Turkey.” He was right.

What he said came to pass.

Tayyip's personal ambition for power has brought the country to the brink of collapse in almost every aspect over the past 22 years. There is no economy left, no democracy, no human rights, and no rule of law. Secularism is not even a consideration anymore.

And the moral decay is just the icing on the cake...

The European Union issue has also taken its place among the dusty pages of history.

I remembered these after the defeat suffered in the local elections. One does not need to be a psychic to guess how ambitious Tayyip has become now.

It is clear that losing Istanbul for the third time has created a serious trauma in his spirit. It is easy to understand from his facial expressions that he is like a powder keg.

We do not know yet from whom he will take his anger and how, or how many rabbits he will pull out of his hat until 2028, but the coming period does not seem like it will be very easy for any of us. 

Furthermore, since he knows very well that power comes from local politics, no one should doubt that he will do his best to ensure that CHP municipalities fail.  No one should have any doubts that he will do everything in his power to ensure the failure of CHP-run municipalities.

The CHP needs to be very careful; they do not even have the luxury of making the smallest mistake.

We would like to hope that the headquarters and the newly elected mayors are also aware of this.

Let us conclude our article by saying that we will talk more about the likely political landscape we will face four years from now.