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The Daily Star, Lebanon
Aug 25 2014
Erdogan softening style not substance as president
Selin Bucak| Reuters
ISTANBUL: Recep Tayyip Erdogan's caustic rhetoric has won him the
devotion of Turkey's conservative Islamic heartlands, from his
dismissal of political enemies as "worse than leeches" to his
comparisons of Israel's actions in Gaza to those of Hitler. His fiery
podium speeches and blunt populism have galvanized core supporters and
cemented his rise as modern Turkey's most powerful leader, culminating
in his victory this month in the country's first popular election for
president.
His language, often playing on a schism in Turkish society between a
Western-facing, largely secular class suspicious of his Islamic ideals
and a pious segment of society who see him as a hero, has left
opponents fearing his presidency will only polarize Turkey ever
further.
He has made no secret of his ambition to establish an executive
presidential system, a move his critics say would put too much power
in the hands of a leader who is steering the country ever further away
from the secular ideals of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the
modern republic.
Few expect his leadership style to radically change after his
inauguration Thursday, despite a constitutional requirement that he
remove himself from party politics, but aides say a new, softer tone
will start to emerge from a leader who has built a career on his
ability to rally the crowds.
"The strength of Erdogan's image lies in his authenticity," said Erol
Olcak, an advertising guru who has worked with Erdogan for two decades
and whose Arter agency has masterminded AKP election campaigns since
its foundation in 2001.
"He will both perform as head of state ... and, because he was elected
by the people, demonstrate his strong emotional connection with them.
This is the new balance and we are working on new strategies and ways
of communicating."
There are already signs of a change in tone.
Addressing the thousands gathered below the balcony of the AK Party
headquarters on Aug. 10, the night of his election victory, he
appeared to stick largely to a scripted speech crafted around more
embracing language.
He emphasized that all citizens, regardless of ethnic or religious
background, were "Turkiyeli" - citizens of Turkey - a term he had
rarely, if ever, used in public speeches as prime minister, preferring
instead to refer simply to 'Turks' - the traditional word for the
Turkish ethnic group.
"We are the children of one nation. We are the people of Turkey before
being Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Yazidi ... Alawite, Sunni ... before
being Kurdish, Arab, Laz, Georgian, Bosnian, Circassian, Armenian or
Greek," he told the cheering crowds.
It was a contrast to his comments earlier that week, when he said
opponents had insulted him by calling him Armenian, a remark which
sparked outrage among ethnic minorities including the mainly Christian
Armenians, and led to a criminal complaint.
Erdogan's opponents doubt he will change.
"He used derogatory language ... just to win elections, and then made
a reconciliatory speech," said Hursit Gunes, a lawmaker from the main
opposition CHP who filed the complaint over Erdogan's Armenian remark.
"A real president wouldn't use such a language during his campaign.
When Erdogan takes office he will never be impartial. He will be the
president of a certain group and he will act or speak according to his
polarizing spirit."
Erdogan emerged victorious in the Aug. 10 presidential vote after one
of his most difficult years in office, bouncing back from
anti-government demonstrations last summer, a corruption scandal
months later and a power struggle with his former ally turned archfoe,
U.S.-based sheikh Fethullah Gulen.
His polarizing rhetoric reached a peak during the summer protests,
when he dismissed demonstrators in Istanbul as "riffraff" and
contrasted their indulgent lifestyles with those of the common man
"Ahmet or Mehmet" in the Anatolian heartlands. "They say: We are
artists, we are writers, we have capital, our vote is not equal with
that of Ahmet or Mehmet in Kayseri," he said at the time. "They drink
their whiskey on the Bosphorus ... and hold the rest of the people in
contempt."
It was characteristic of the victim mentality he has repeatedly
employed, casting himself and his supporters as the subject of a plot
by outside forces including foreign powers and Gulen's network of
followers, a common enemy against which his loyal supporters could
rally.
Erdogan accuses Gulen's sympathizers of infiltrating institutions
including the police and judiciary in an effort to seize the levers of
state power, a struggle which he has vowed to pursue as president,
along with his new prime minister, outgoing foreign minister Ahmet
Davutoglu.
Here too, though, Erdogan's language - if not his message - appears to
be softening.
Where he once vowed to hunt down Gulen's followers "in their lairs"
and described them as "worse than leeches," in his presidential
victory speech he called on "sincere and pure brothers" in the
movement to distance themselves from it and question Gulen's
teachings.
"Now Erdogan has been elected president, you can see the difference in
tone. He didn't transform overnight, he just adjusted to his new
position," one senior AK official said.
"From now on you will see a different Erdogan," he said.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily
Star on August 25, 2014, on page 9.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Aug-25/268355-erdogan-softening-style-not-substance-as-president.ashx#axzz3BMxBH4cy
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Aug 25 2014
Erdogan softening style not substance as president
Selin Bucak| Reuters
ISTANBUL: Recep Tayyip Erdogan's caustic rhetoric has won him the
devotion of Turkey's conservative Islamic heartlands, from his
dismissal of political enemies as "worse than leeches" to his
comparisons of Israel's actions in Gaza to those of Hitler. His fiery
podium speeches and blunt populism have galvanized core supporters and
cemented his rise as modern Turkey's most powerful leader, culminating
in his victory this month in the country's first popular election for
president.
His language, often playing on a schism in Turkish society between a
Western-facing, largely secular class suspicious of his Islamic ideals
and a pious segment of society who see him as a hero, has left
opponents fearing his presidency will only polarize Turkey ever
further.
He has made no secret of his ambition to establish an executive
presidential system, a move his critics say would put too much power
in the hands of a leader who is steering the country ever further away
from the secular ideals of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the
modern republic.
Few expect his leadership style to radically change after his
inauguration Thursday, despite a constitutional requirement that he
remove himself from party politics, but aides say a new, softer tone
will start to emerge from a leader who has built a career on his
ability to rally the crowds.
"The strength of Erdogan's image lies in his authenticity," said Erol
Olcak, an advertising guru who has worked with Erdogan for two decades
and whose Arter agency has masterminded AKP election campaigns since
its foundation in 2001.
"He will both perform as head of state ... and, because he was elected
by the people, demonstrate his strong emotional connection with them.
This is the new balance and we are working on new strategies and ways
of communicating."
There are already signs of a change in tone.
Addressing the thousands gathered below the balcony of the AK Party
headquarters on Aug. 10, the night of his election victory, he
appeared to stick largely to a scripted speech crafted around more
embracing language.
He emphasized that all citizens, regardless of ethnic or religious
background, were "Turkiyeli" - citizens of Turkey - a term he had
rarely, if ever, used in public speeches as prime minister, preferring
instead to refer simply to 'Turks' - the traditional word for the
Turkish ethnic group.
"We are the children of one nation. We are the people of Turkey before
being Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Yazidi ... Alawite, Sunni ... before
being Kurdish, Arab, Laz, Georgian, Bosnian, Circassian, Armenian or
Greek," he told the cheering crowds.
It was a contrast to his comments earlier that week, when he said
opponents had insulted him by calling him Armenian, a remark which
sparked outrage among ethnic minorities including the mainly Christian
Armenians, and led to a criminal complaint.
Erdogan's opponents doubt he will change.
"He used derogatory language ... just to win elections, and then made
a reconciliatory speech," said Hursit Gunes, a lawmaker from the main
opposition CHP who filed the complaint over Erdogan's Armenian remark.
"A real president wouldn't use such a language during his campaign.
When Erdogan takes office he will never be impartial. He will be the
president of a certain group and he will act or speak according to his
polarizing spirit."
Erdogan emerged victorious in the Aug. 10 presidential vote after one
of his most difficult years in office, bouncing back from
anti-government demonstrations last summer, a corruption scandal
months later and a power struggle with his former ally turned archfoe,
U.S.-based sheikh Fethullah Gulen.
His polarizing rhetoric reached a peak during the summer protests,
when he dismissed demonstrators in Istanbul as "riffraff" and
contrasted their indulgent lifestyles with those of the common man
"Ahmet or Mehmet" in the Anatolian heartlands. "They say: We are
artists, we are writers, we have capital, our vote is not equal with
that of Ahmet or Mehmet in Kayseri," he said at the time. "They drink
their whiskey on the Bosphorus ... and hold the rest of the people in
contempt."
It was characteristic of the victim mentality he has repeatedly
employed, casting himself and his supporters as the subject of a plot
by outside forces including foreign powers and Gulen's network of
followers, a common enemy against which his loyal supporters could
rally.
Erdogan accuses Gulen's sympathizers of infiltrating institutions
including the police and judiciary in an effort to seize the levers of
state power, a struggle which he has vowed to pursue as president,
along with his new prime minister, outgoing foreign minister Ahmet
Davutoglu.
Here too, though, Erdogan's language - if not his message - appears to
be softening.
Where he once vowed to hunt down Gulen's followers "in their lairs"
and described them as "worse than leeches," in his presidential
victory speech he called on "sincere and pure brothers" in the
movement to distance themselves from it and question Gulen's
teachings.
"Now Erdogan has been elected president, you can see the difference in
tone. He didn't transform overnight, he just adjusted to his new
position," one senior AK official said.
"From now on you will see a different Erdogan," he said.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily
Star on August 25, 2014, on page 9.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Aug-25/268355-erdogan-softening-style-not-substance-as-president.ashx#axzz3BMxBH4cy
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress