How Erdogan Clings to Power: Controversial Decisions by Turkish President

Turkish President’s controversial decisions cause unrest at home and concern abroad Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

By presidential decree Turkey recently withdrew from the international convention on violence against women. Since then, protests in the country’s streets have been almost daily. In addition, Erdogan ousted the central banker just five months after he took office because he raised the key interest rate despite the president’s objections. Result; Another fall in the exchange rate of the Turkish lira with unforeseen consequences for those already in dire financial straits. And as if all this were not enough, President Erdogan is on his way the ban on the second party in power in the country: the pro-Kurdish HDP, whose numerous Members are expected to lose their immunity soon.

Tayyip Erdogan is constantly showing his power, perhaps because his stay in the presidential palace is not as certain as he wants to present to the outside world., according to a Deutsche Welle article. Despite the expanded presidential powers it has amassed over the past three years, it depends on the support of the supranationalist MHP party in the Turkish National Assembly. But even with the MHP on its side, recent polls predict it no longer secures an absolute majority. Although the next elections are expected to take place normally in 2023, various scenarios see for this reason early recourse to the polls.

Erdogan seeks to rally his fanatical followers

For now though President Erdogan bets on polarization and conflict. Guenter Seifert, head of the CATS Center for Applied Turkish Studies in Berlin, said Ankara’s recent controversial decisions ultimately benefited the government because they met the demands of AKP voters. For example The president’s obsession with low interest rates is considered a concession to small and medium-sized businesses, but also large companies, which want low-interest loans. Her departure Turkey The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against Women is attributed to the concession of Tayyip Erdogan to religious circles and institutions, while with the banning of the pro-Kurdish HDP party, the Turkish president satisfies the request of Devlet Bahceli, president of MH. “Voters who would not necessarily vote for the AKP no matter what happened have been lost to Erdogan anyway,” said Guenter Seifert, adding that “the Turkish president’s goal is to rally his party’s fanatical voters.” The German expert estimates that Tayyip Erdogan may count on the votes of some Kurds after a possible ban by the HDP.

With his tactics, President Erdogan wants to divide the opposition, says Mustafa Generoglou, a companion for many years, a confidant of the Turkish president and now a member of the opposition Deva party. The Turkish politician believes that Erdogan’s goal is to provoke a conflict in order to divide Turkish society. Even though Ankara claims that the country’s judiciary is independent, Mustafa Generoglu believes that the driving force behind the HDP banning process is Tayyip Erdogan: “Without his consent, nothing can move forward.”

“AKP would not win fair elections”

“We see a policy based on crises,” said Murat Akan, a political scientist at Bogazici University in the Bosphorus. “Verbal attacks, threats, arrests and lawsuits divide society and at the same time keep the democratic opposition firmly on alert.” they leave its members time not even to breathe to think and organize “. The Turkish scientist believes that with this tactic the co-government in Ankara aims to create an anti-democratic framework in the run-up to the next elections: “It is proof that the ruling parties are now convinced that under normal circumstances they will not be able to win democratic and fair elections. “Erdogan’s only goal is to stay in power.”