Erdogan’s Loss will be Turkey’s Too; and the World’s.
As all eyes focus on Turkey’s national election let’s look at what is at stake for the country and the world, should Erdogan come out of this second best; and lose.
Turks went to the polls Sunday past and here are the results thus far. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has 49.51% of the vote, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu 44.88% and Sinan Ogan 5.17%
Although Erdogan did far better than the polls predicted it is not over yet. As no one secured an outright 50% of the vote a runoff will take place on May 28.
All things considered; Turkey with Erdogan at the helm will be better served than one with him not there. The fraught Russia- Ukraine situation is a case in point.
From where I stand Turkey can be said to be a stabilizing, even a restraining backdrop; in what seems to be a sea of EU warmongers, and Biden Admin yes men.
In other words Turkey maybe keeping a lid on it; but this won’t be for long if the anti-Erdogan crowd has their way.
There are whispers that the man who is vying for his presidency is being backed by the usual suspects and I’ll not mention names. I don’t have to. I’m sure you get the picture though.
Some allude that regime change is coming to Turkey in one form or other.
All because Erdogan stands in the way of what they want to do. And what they want most of all is to ramp up the Russia-Ukraine fight.
In fact the disdain for Erdogan (by the west) is on full display and it is a thing to behold.
Take The Economist for one. It manages to surpass its hatred for him; by even its own base standards.
In its latest edition it makes the point that Turkey’s election is the most important to take place this year; with not just the future of Turkey on the line, but the future of democracy as well. Oh my, what a lot of pompous hyperbole. Then again, they have a lot riding on the results… So only to be expected I suppose.
It gets a lot worse.
“………in an era when strongman rule is on the rise, from Hungary to India, the peaceful ejection of Mr Erdogan would show democrats everywhere that strongmen can be beaten.“ Well I did warn you.
Stranger still Erdogan has been dubbed as an Islamist. This even though he has most always called for secularism.
If opposition parties do gain control of parliament; it would depend on how the votes of the other parties split.
I’ll bet it is Erdogan’s close ties to Putin most of all that sticks in many craws. That and he feels no obligation to the EU. Well he was denied membership some years back so who could blame him.
You can be sure that the barrage of hostility has not gone unnoticed in Turkey. It could in fact stir up the nation to rally in Erdogan’s defense. Vote- wise I mean.
It has also been argued the west is looking for an ally in Turkey, one who will get onboard in the fight against Russia. Neutral is out.
Then there is talk they want Turkey to get behind a blockade of Russia in the Black Sea. If this ever comes to pass the US will be Russia’s number one target; without a doubt.
