Erdogan – Turkey’s desperate president


Date posted: December 5, 2016

Robert Ellis

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a desperate man. He is faced with turmoil at home and abroad, the Turkish lira is crashing and internationally he is in the doghouse. 

Erdogan’s project, to launch his Justice and Development Party (AKP) as conservative democrats, was initially met with applause by Western and Turkish liberals when the AKP came into power 14 years ago. First the AKP turned on its military and secular opponents, who were locked up in a series of show trials from 2008 to 2013. Then the turn came to the liberals, who were purged from the parliamentary group in 2011, and after the brutal suppression of the Gezi Park demonstrations in 2013 the penny started to drop for the AKP’s European supporters.


There is a curious reluctance on the part of the Turkish government to carry out an in-depth investigation of the coup, but the blame has been put unequivocally on an erstwhile ally, Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive Turkish imam resident in Pennsylvania, and the cadres of his movement, which enabled Erdogan and the AKP to come to and hold power.


A prominent member of the “Friends of Turkey” group in the European Parliament concluded that Islamism had replaced Kemalism and another cheerleader confessed: “Our dream of a European Turkey has turned into a nightmare and it is time for a wake-up call.” Barack Obama, who once touted “a model partnership” between the US and Turkey and considered Erdogan a moderate Muslim leader, is also disillusioned. The only one to keep the faith is Sweden’s former foreign minister, Carl Bildt, who in 2008 proclaimed “The AKP government is made up of profound European reformers.” In August, as co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, Bildt called on Europe to stand up for Erdogan. 

In fact, after the attempted coup in July and the widespread purge of Erdogan’s opponents, the opposite has happened. A solid majority in the European Parliament has called on the EU Commission and 28 member states to initiate a temporary freeze of the ongoing accession talks with Turkey. 

There is a curious reluctance on the part of the Turkish government to carry out an in-depth investigation of the coup, but the blame has been put unequivocally on an erstwhile ally, Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive Turkish imam resident in Pennsylvania, and the cadres of his movement, which enabled Erdogan and the AKP to come to and hold power. A showdown has been in the offing for some time, particularly since Gülen’s followers in the police and judiciary brought extensive charges of corruption against government circles as well as Erdogan’s family in December 2013. 

Erdogan has publicly admitted that the declaration of a state of emergency and the suspension of civil rights, which has been replaced by government by decree, has given him the power and opportunity to do things they could not do in normal times.


However, Erdogan’s nemesis could well be the USA. A key figure in the December 2013 corruption allegations against the Turkish government is Iranian-Turkish businessman, Reza Zarrab, who was accused of bribing ministers with millions of dollars to facilitate the export of gold to Iran to break US sanctions. Instead, Zarrab was acquitted, awarded a top exporter prize and the public prosecutors and police were removed. In March Zarrab was arrested in Miami and indicted for sanction-busting by New York District Attorney, Preet Bharara, who has a formidable track record for prosecuting corruption cases.


The results are clear. Over 92,000 have been detained, 40,000 arrested and 115,000 people have been dismissed from public service. Turkish prisons are overcrowded and there are reports of mistreatment, torture and already 25 suicides.

Since July last year Turkey has reignited its war with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) in the southeast, and there have been terror attacks not only from the PKK but also Turkish members of ISIL. Erdogan’s overall aim, which is now within reach, is to gain parliamentary support for a constitutional change which will make him executive president but without the checks and balances of democratic rule. To this end, Erdogan has fanned the flames of nationalist sentiment and declared “the second War of Independence” (from Western influence) to undermine the legacy of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Erdogan has already turned his back on the Lausanne Treaty from 1923, which defined the borders of modern Turkey, and has instead invoked the Misak-i Milli (National Pact), passed by the Ottoman parliament in 1920, which laid claim to areas of Greece, Syria and Iraq. This has already led to a conflict with Iraq and the Turkish army is in northern Syria, ostensibly in support of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in its struggle against ISIL.

A deal brokered with the EU in March to stem the flow of refugees from Turkey, which promised visa liberalisation for 80 million Turks, now appears uncertain, and Erdogan, like Muammar Gaddafi, now threatens to open the floodgates. Meanwhile, the Turkish economy, which is dependent on foreign capital, continues to tank. Moody’s has downgraded Turkey’s credit rating to junk and President Erdogan has called on Turks to change their forex into lira and gold to save the economy.      

However, Erdogan’s nemesis could well be the USA. A key figure in the December 2013 corruption allegations against the Turkish government is Iranian-Turkish businessman, Reza Zarrab, who was accused of bribing ministers with millions of dollars to facilitate the export of gold to Iran to break US sanctions. Instead, Zarrab was acquitted, awarded a top exporter prize and the public prosecutors and police were removed.     

In March Zarrab was arrested in Miami and indicted for sanction-busting by New York District Attorney, Preet Bharara, who has a formidable track record for prosecuting corruption cases. The Turkish government has made attempts to interfere with Zarrab’s prosecution but to no avail. Now Bharara has confirmed he has agreed to continue as US attorney “without fear or favor” at the request of President-elect Donald Trump. Zarrab’s trial is scheduled to begin in October next year, which can only add to Erdogan’s worries.

Robert Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish and international press.

Source: Frontpage Magazine , December 5, 2016


Related News

Turkey’s leading prep school network rejects claims it cheated on state exams

Turkey’s leading prep school network has categorically rejected allegations that its teachers were involved in mass cheating, describing pro-government circles’ latest claim an attempt to “defame” and abolish public service state exams.

‘The work of Hizmet followers is really tackling the fundamentals of what is needed in the society’

Hizmet Movement is represented by the people that I’ve met. I see that there is a common purpose of like-minded people, in a very grass-root way, coming together, pushing for some ideals that they believe in, in the society, and I’m touched by the genuine motivation of the people that I’ve met. I am impressed with the sacrifice that individuals that believe in this contribute to this collective goal that they are trying to reach.

Sabotage: government-Gülen movement relations

We are facing a new situation that we are all trying to understand. First, the summoning of the undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), Hakan Fidan, and several other MİT administrators to testify as suspects has turned into an unprecedented and serious problem. Those waiting in the wings encouraged a debate that started as […]

Concluding statement of the International panel on Mary announced

The international panel, titled “Mary in the Holy Scripture and Qur’an,” which was jointly held by the Journalists and Writers Foundation’s (GYV) Intercultural Dialogue Platform (KADİP), the Tevere Institute and İzmir Intercultural Dialogue Center (İZDİM), was concluded with a statement.

Gülen calls on corrupt politicians to confess their sins, beg forgiveness

Turkish intellectual and Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen called on senior officials in Turkey on Friday to repent for their sins and lies made to scapegoat others and avoid the blame for their own corruption.

Policeman, teacher wife and premature baby under arrest over Gülen links

Fatma Cetin, an Erzurum teacher who was earlier dismissed from public school as part of the post-coup crackdown against the Gülen movement, has been under arrest along with her premature baby, Sozcu columnist Emin Colasan revealed.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

A new book: Fethullah Gulen and The Gulen Movement in 100 Questions

Turkey’s business world weary of gov’t pressure, says Kalkavan

Leaked document sheds light on Turkey’s controlled ‘coup’

Women gather for UN development agenda in İstanbul

Fears grow Turks held in Malaysia may face unfair trial or torture at home

Mother of three arrested with baby as police fail to locate teacher husband

Statement on Journalists Arrests

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News