The Turkish nation has, for the first time since the founding of the republic in 1923, voted overwhelmingly and gave President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the mandate to continue his journey of restructuring Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s century-old legacy in Turkey. But are fears about an Islamist agenda justifiable? Is a total break with the severe secularism of Ataturk possible?
Building on Ataturk’s legacy
What the local and foreign opposition to Erdogan return to power did not understand is that his policies are deeply rooted in the tradition of the Turkish National Movement of the War of Independence period. His stated program to make Turkey sovereign in everything, including militarily, politically and economically, goes in this direction.
He revived the first years of the country’s liberation despite a pervasive economic gloom. He drove a wedge with an opposition eager to backpedal and restore an elitist Kemalism frozen in time, out of step with deep Turkey and seen as making the country an appendage of the West.
President Erdogan was unfairly opposed to Ataturk and compared to an Ottoman sultan – an image he did not fight against however. Ataturk was a decisive leader in the nationalist movement that saved the Turkish nation from being sliced into confetti states and the first president of the Republic that Erdogan now leads.
Erdogan acknowledges Ataturk’s accomplishment without idolizing him. He is the product par excellence of this Turkish society that the founding father built and he can therefore only build on this heritage. Two decades at the helm of the nation have shown that he has not embarked on radical change, but rather has kept Turkey’s engagement with the West somehow intact and improved Turkish democracy despite what his naysayers say.
Harnessing pervasive nationalism
Ataturk’s doctrine also known as Ataturkism or Kemalism has elevated to dogma a Westernized idea of a Turkish identity shunning its Eastern roots. An identity that was expressed against Islam and mainly the Kurdish minority. These core tenets were born from the bitterness of the founding fathers marked by the betrayal of their Arab, Kurdish, Jewish and Christian compatriots.
It should be noted that after almost a hundred years, the dogmatic system established by Mustafa Kemal has left a lingering effect on all levels of society, including in the political arena, the economic sector, the army, education and the justice system.
For this reason, the AKP in power could not, at least initially, attack head-on the fundamental principles of Kemalism. Erdogan has seen in 1998, as a member of the Welfare Party, the kind of pushback an Islamist party eager to do away with the institutional secularism can expect.
The secret to his unique political longevity stems from his shrewd chemistry on exploiting Turkish nationalism and pride in glorifying the nation. The younger generation, in Turkey and in the Diaspora, who grew up with Erdogan as their leader and overwhelmingly voted him last month, swear by him.
Erdoganism, the latest chapter of Turkish revival
However, Erdogan also grew up on the margins and in opposition to a secular system that alienated a large part of the Turkish population, which is the repository of a thousand-year-old cultural heritage rooted in an Islamic and Eastern tradition.
His “Turkish century” with a staunchly conservative and sovereign decision-making has appealed to the masses, of course it is an agenda not much to the liking of the Western allies, but should they care. There is no doubt Turkey will be different and become a beacon for other majority Muslim countries.
Their antics to push Erdogan from power with the help of aging Kemalism old guard has backfired this time around. Indeed the shenanigans, smear campaign against the president and attempts to influence their votes intention startled the Turks new to this increased international scrutiny.
In short, the current trend in Turkish politics is in line with the socio-political evolution that began about a century ago with the Tanzimat era and the local response to pressing matters. The recent democratic push embodied by Erdogan is thus the latest chapter of constant Turkish renewal and what some call Erdoganism an actualization of the ideals of the founding fathers of the republic.
