Erdogan won, but his opponents did not lose

With the end of the presidential elections on Sunday evening, May 28, 2023, Turkish democracy crossed a new threshold in its history, and expressed a high level of democratic maturity. Once again, with a turnout exceeding 85%, the Turkish people showed that they are the decisive actors in politics with their rare activity and participation in the world.

The votes cast by approximately 55 million citizens were counted in only 3 hours after the polls closed, and the results were uploaded to the electronic system with full transparency before the eyes of the world, in the presence of all parties and under the supervision of international monitoring, which makes it difficult to question their integrity.

This is an image that raises admiration and pride from the perspective of Turkish democracy. Erdogan – whom they call a dictator – did not achieve the quorum sufficient to win in the first round, with a decrease of less than 0.5%. For the next two weeks, he continued to present himself to the masses in an attempt to increase the vote rate for him through democratic means in the second round. from polling.

One of the American Newsweek writers described this scene well, when he said that no dictator in the world should do this. Well, dictators don’t enter a second round of voting, they don’t worry about election results, they don’t make you wait for results, they are predetermined. But here the whole world lived anticipation last night, from the opening of the polling stations in the morning until the end of counting the last ballot, however, as of yesterday, the whole of Turkey and the whole world were waiting for the election results impatiently and worrying that the winds would not blow as ships wanted. Until the last voting card has been counted.

In the end, Erdogan won. Or rather, he won again. He never tasted defeat at the ballot box, and no one stood firm in his competition, even when his opponents gathered at the table of six (or seven or eight) and allied to confront him. He was able to defeat this alliance that united all the political and hostile elements of national and international politics, legal and illegal. In a “legendary final”.

This victory is reminiscent of his success in 2002, when his party, which was never given a chance and was politically banned, managed to leave all parties below the electoral threshold that allows them to enter Parliament, and obtained a majority that had not been seen for many years. Every election has a different story and context, but Erdogan has always been the winner.

An American writer described the scene well, saying that dictators do not enter a second round of voting, do not worry about the election results, and do not make you wait for the results, as they are predetermined.

Rejoice in the Islamic world

In his speeches during the campaign, Erdogan reiterated that his victory would not be a defeat for others, and this was not just a propaganda rhetoric. His victories have always been victories for all of Turkey, the entire Islamic world and the oppressed.

And to show that what I am saying is not an exaggeration, let me tell you about an event I am currently experiencing: As of 19:00, when I sit down to write this article of mine, calls of congratulations from all over the Muslim world have not ceased. Well-wishers from Yemen, Tunisia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Libya, Syria, Palestine, Serbia, Bosnia, Eritrea and Lebanon are calling me, all expressing their joy with indescribable affection, thanking God.

For two weeks, I watched groups from these countries gather for Tahajjud prayers every night for Erdogan’s success. These people, who feel that their fate is linked to the fate of Erdogan and Turkey, are now sharing their phones with the writing of my article, as I receive at least two calls during every sentence I write more or less decently.

In his speeches during the campaign, Erdogan reiterated that his victory would not be a defeat for others, and this was not just a propaganda rhetoric. His victories have always been a victory for all of Turkey, the entire Islamic world and the oppressed.

Erdogan is a great leader. In the social studies I have done on leadership in the past, I have concluded that a strong leader is one of the most powerful components of a country’s social capital. And Turkey has gained a lot by re-electing an experienced and reliable leader like Erdogan, who has brought great success to his country for 21 years. The value that a leadership like Erdoğan brings to the country is undoubtedly very important, especially in an environment where the whole world suffers from a serious lack of strong leadership, and the Turkish people have appreciated this value very well.

Erdogan’s opponents did not lose

With Erdogan’s victory, all elements of Türkiye won, as they always have. We covered this in more detail in our last article. Kurds, Alevis, the underprivileged, Roma, the disabled, the poor, the oppressed, and everyone with other political preferences have always benefited from the public services they receive from Erdoğan’s policies. There’s nobody who hasn’t won that 21 years ago, and that’s pretty obvious.

Erdogan did not make another kind of promises in these elections, regardless of the inability of some to accept him and target him and his supporters with hate speech. He opened his arms to everyone without discrimination, and will continue to open them.

Türkiye won to prove its democracy in front of the whole world, by making this good show. Between the two rounds of election results, almost every vote reached its owner with “millimeter” accuracy. The participation rates in the two rounds are very close, and comparing their results does not show a random distribution of votes, but rather shows great accuracy. In other words, this shows how determined the voters are and how aware they are of what they want, and how fair the vote-counting system is.

For example, there has been a significant shift in voting among the Kurds, and this can be clearly seen. In the first round, some of them felt seriously threatened, particularly in rural areas, by the prospect of Kilicdaroglu’s victory, and when it became clear that he was not as close to winning as had been thought, a large percentage of Kurdish voters felt freed from this threat and changed their choice in the second round. . A number of these voices played a serious role in shaping the outcome in its final form.

Of course, these results will be subject to more detailed analysis to crystallize a new vision of Turkey and its political orientations.

In the end, Erdogan won, and with him Turkey won with all its colors and elements, with those who participated in the vote and those who did not vote, and along with these, all the oppressed in the world won.

Blessed victory to all.