Erdogan’s victory and renewed hope

They sharpened their spears, united their affairs, and calculated that it was their last chance to annihilate the Turkish renaissance, and return it to the eras of oppression and poverty, tyranny and corruption, self-isolation, and begging at their tables in disgrace. They could not hide their religious and historical grudges, and their political and strategic ambitions, and their “sober” media abandoned its sobriety, descended to low levels of indecency, and waged a fierce psychological war in order to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and bring in a weak sectarian regime affiliated with them.

Perhaps the problem of the United States in this region is its addiction to dealing with cheap “agents” who serve it with faith and reckoning, not with respectable “allies” who insist on equality and mutual respect.

For the sake of this, they abandoned all objective and professional standards, and the tone of hostility did not diminish in their tongues until after it became clear that their dark bet had been lost. Only then did they soften the tones of pulsating hatred, adhering to their inherent opportunism, which is expressed in the common American saying: “jump in the car when it arrives” after exhausting every effort to impede it, and the failure of that hindrance. The credit for thwarting this obstruction – after God’s grace and repayment – goes back to two things:

• The first of them: the deep political awareness accumulated by the Turkish people over the centuries, as this awareness was an impenetrable dam, and a fortified shield, against the tricks of the enemies disguised as friends. The whole world watched with enthusiasm and interest a bright democratic path in Turkey, in which those in power competed with their opponents transparently under the eyes and ears of the world, and the participation rate in it reached record levels that hardly exist in the oldest democracies, without any incidents of violence or convulsions. This indicates the maturity of the people’s culture and the depth of their political awareness. Were it not for this, the foreign media infusion would have succeeded in distorting the compass, distorting the experience, and pushing people to miserable political choices.
• Second: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s genius and political acumen. Here we must mention that time does not give great leaders a lot. There is no doubt – in my opinion – that President Erdogan will enter history through his wide door, as one of the great political leaders, who left their mark on the destinies of their nation, imprinted their times with a special character, and engaged in politics with shrewdness, competence and principle. Erdogan was characterized by what characterizes great leaders in every era, in terms of combining principles and interests, combining principled courage with practical spirit, and careful strategic consideration that puts things in their proper place. And he preserves the capital obtained with grace and acumen, and builds common spaces with the various international powers, including in the interest of his people and his nation, without subordination or negligence.

President Erdogan has proved once again that he is the experienced captain of the ship in a choppy sea, and that he is worthy of that place and that position, with what God endowed him with of the solid Islamic faith, the broad human spirit, the deep political wisdom, and the sensitive strategic sense. He erected the pillars, steered the ship safely, and extracted a position worthy of its ancient history for Turkey. Erdogan also dealt with the various international powers as a strong statesman, proud of his religion, confident in his people, certain that the strategic alternatives are ample, that his country is not dependent on anyone, and it is able to carve its own independent strategic line, away from the diplomacy of pleading and begging that Weak leaders in the region are accustomed to it.

President Erdogan had complained since the end of 2018, in an article he wrote in the New York Times to Turkey’s American allies, that “the United States has consistently and persistently failed to understand and respect the concerns of the Turkish people,” and warned that “if the United States does not begin to Respecting Turkey’s sovereignty, and demonstrating an understanding of the risks our nation faces, our partnership is at stake.” Then he concluded his article with an unmistakable message of warning and excuse: “Washington must abandon – before it is too late – the misconception that our relations are not equal, and realize that Turkey has alternatives. Failure to stop this path of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to search for new friends and allies.” “.

Perhaps the problem of the United States in this region is its addiction to dealing with cheap “agents” who serve it with faith and reckoning, and not with respectable “allies” who insist on equality and mutual respect. Because of this addiction to ease, the American decision-maker can no longer bear his allies to contradict him in any matter, or to express their independent ego in anything, after he had become accustomed to absolute obedience and free service from some of America’s allies, even if that service was at the expense of the interests of their countries. and the future of their people. But democratic Türkiye, led by President Erdogan, rejected this pettiness and lack of self-respect.

There are great challenges facing Turkey and President Erdogan in the next five years, which will be the inauguration of the second century of the life of the contemporary Turkish state, and among these challenges:

1. Overcoming the identity split that Türkiye has suffered from for 100 years

This is after a shaky, westernized minority imposed on her the position of a beggar at the tables of the West, and made her flee from herself, and manage her nation and its Islamic civilization. President Erdogan and his colleagues in the Justice and Development Party have come a long way in healing this identity wound, and achieving some self-reconciliation for their people, but the matter still requires extensive work in the field of education, culture and others, and it seems to me that the leadership of the Justice and Development Party has been preoccupied with political concern The economic is about the cultural concern, and they need a balance in this matter.

2. The dilemma of sharp political, sectarian and racial polarization

Turkey needs a less polarized political space, and the emergence of a common space for moderates from all political forces, for fair competition, without sectarian tensions or racial fanaticism. It seems to me that the decline of the Republican People’s Party in these elections and the failure of its leaders may be an opportunity for this party to transform from a deaf political bloc with a solid sectarian core, into an open and diverse political force, close to the general milieu of Turkish society, and reconciled with its Islamic faith and its Ottoman roots, which are known to be numerous. And forgive her.

Millions of people interacted with the Turkish elections in an unprecedented way, which indicates the unity of feelings, hopes and pains, and the confidence of the Arab peoples in Turkey as a country, people and leadership, despite all the biases that some have spread among the two peoples.

3. Preparing for Erdogan’s succession in the party and in the state

This is President Erdogan’s last mandate constitutionally, and it is in the interest of Turkey and the Justice and Development Party that the project that Erdogan started, through the political and institutional construction of the party and the state, ensures the accumulation of construction without a split in the ranks, or an interruption in the process. The lifespan of states is not measured by the lifespan of individuals, and one of the most important tasks of a leader is to create leaders who will succeed him and carry the banner after him. I do not think that President Erdogan will lose sight of this matter in the next five years, because it is vital for the future of Turkey and its future generations.

4. Drafting a new constitution for Turkey

A new constitution commensurate with the social and cultural realities of Turkish society Which has grown and changed a lot during the 100 years of the republic’s life. The current constitution – despite all the democratic amendments that have been introduced to it – is originally a document prepared by the military who ruled Turkey by oppression, and sought to engineer society according to their whims. And they were controlled by a complex of inferiority towards Western culture, and they sought to impose the rigid secular ideology on a conservative Muslim society as a whole.

We must focus now on building a tolerant democracy that accommodates all components of society, without ideological extremism or coercive motives. Democracy is not synonymous with secularism, and the best democratic system can be built away from the rigid secular ideology.

5. Engaging more in resolving some of the regional dilemmas affecting Türkiye

The most important and closely related to Turkey is the dilemma of the war in Syria. I believe that Turkey, with its growing position, and the need of the Western and Russian sides for it in the Ukraine war, can reach with the Russians a practical formula for political change in Damascus that responds to the aspirations of the Syrian people. It can also come to an understanding with the Russians to expand its presence in northern Syria to include all of the city of Aleppo, in a way that guarantees a safe space that facilitates the voluntary return of most Syrians to their country, without hardship or embarrassment, with the placement of Turkish-Russian separation forces between the area controlled by the regime and the area controlled by the opposition, until reaching for a comprehensive political solution in Syria.

6. Strategic repositioning in the region

So that it is a position commensurate with Türkiye’s historical position and leadership in the Islamic world. The international system is changing rapidly, and the international forces are moving away, as I explained at length in my recently published study entitled: “The Rising of the East and the Setting of the West.” In the next five years, Turkey needs to adopt new strategic options in its relationship with international powers, east and west, and to strive to achieve something that the peoples of the Islamic world pin on it – especially in the Arab world and Central Asia – from the aspirations of leadership and pioneering. The call of history is calling, and it is better to respond to it before the emergence of competing forces, or the negative change of the strategic environment, which means that the opportunity is lost and it is too late.

Hope has been renewed for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s victory, and the necks of millions in the region and the world have stretched, following the Turkish elections, interactive and passive. And around the world.

In the Arab world in particular, millions interacted with the Turkish elections in an unprecedented way, which indicates the unity of feelings, hopes and pains, and the confidence of the Arab peoples in Turkey as a country, people and leadership, despite all the biases that some have spread in the two peoples. Likewise, the Arab peoples aspiring for freedom and democracy still see in Turkey a good example, an example to follow, and a light that gives renewed hope to the hearts of millions of Arabs, who have been exhausted by bleak years of destruction and displacement, as a result of internal oppression and external permissiveness.

Congratulations to the Turkish people for their dazzling democracy, and congratulations to President Erdogan for the confidence of his people and nation.