Did you think that Turkish prime minister and strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan couldn’t get any more powerful? Think again. Because he just did, winning August’s presidential elections in Turkey with a 52 per cent share of the vote, enough to make him a political supremo.

Under Turkey’s political system, the President is a mostly ceremonial figurehead, much like India’s. But Erdogan is expected to push for legislation that would set up a US-model presidential system that would make him all powerful and turn Turkish politics on its head.

Already, Erdogan has chosen a malleable new prime minister: Ahmet Davutoglu, who is expected to pave the way for him to change the system. In a draft bill, the ruling AKP party proposed, among other things, that the President be allowed to dissolve parliament and to appoint cabinet ministers. And Erdogan has already spoken of his intention to change the constitution.

Tough times

Erdogan’s victory is all the more notable because it came after his toughest year yet in office, enduring corruption charges, stubborn anti-government protests and criticism over his handling of the Soma mining tragedy.

But none of this appears to have made more than a dent in his voter base. “People in Turkey don’t want to take a chance,” says an Istanbul based administrative assistant. “Erdogan has made things very easy for us. He may be a tyrant, but he is efficient. Ten years ago we had no roads, hospitals, or malls; if you wanted to get anything done, you had to spend all day in a government office. Voters don’t care about his conservatism; after all we are a Muslim country. They just want an easier life.”

But not everyone agrees. Some point to signs of increasing conservatism. Deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc recently said that Turkish women should not laugh in public, when commenting on the moral decline of society. (Turkish politicians are often mirror images of their Indian counterparts, and play to conservative vote banks too).

In response, hundreds of Turkish women tweeted photos of themselves laughing, and Arinc became a worldwide object of ridicule. Meanwhile, only a few days later, Erdogan called a woman journalist “shameless’ and urged her to know her place. Then, outgoing President Abdullah Gul, seen a moderate, was criticised so heavily by AKP party members that his wife threatened to start an “intifada” after he left office.

The fight for the ‘cause’

Such incidents make many Turkish people feel uneasy and fear a polarisation in Turkey between conservatives and liberals. Erdoðan will not be content with just winning elections. He will not be content until he feels he has won the fight for “the cause.”

With half the country fanatically loving him and the other half fanatically hating him; with one half (pretending to be) living like devout Muslims and the other half like infidels, he will not believe he has won the fight for “the cause”, said an editorial in the Daily Hurriyat , a popular Turkish paper.

Erdogan was conciliatory in his victory address, giving up his usual pugilistic style, if only for a while. “I will not be the President of only those who voted for me,” said Erdogan, 60, in a speech carried live on television, often interrupted by loud cheers. “I will be the President of 77 million. I will be the President who embraces all with affection.” Many Turkish people will be hoping he does just that.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Bangalore and Istanbul

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