‘Sultan’ Erdogan gets a political reality check

What the Arabic-language press is saying about Turkey's election results, featuring Al Hayat and Asharq Al Awsat.

Turkish president Tayyip Recep Erdogan's hopes of expanded power took a blow at the national election. Umit Bektas / Reuters

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had hoped for a sweeping victory in the recent election, with a view to reinforce his rule. But instead he fell victim to the declining economy and to his much-criticised authoritarian brand of politics.

Jihad Al Khazen, writing in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, said “the dream of Sultan Erdogan has been deferred or has been made to vanish” in the election, which saw support for his ruling Justice and Development Party drop from 49 per cent to 41 per cent, resulting in 258 seats at the 550-seat parliament. Previously it held 327 seats.

“The loss is a personal one, specific to Mr Erdogan. Such defeat is not that of the party, nor that of prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, as the party has accomplished enough economic ‘miracles’ in a decade to ensure a fourth victory after its 2002, 2007 and 2011 victories,” he wrote.

“However, Mr Erdogan’s governance has changed and misconduct has been noted both internally and externally. He is now paying the price for this.

“Internally, he is trying to oppress the press by requesting lifetime imprisonment for the editor-in-chief of Hürriyet, who exposed Turkish intelligence smuggling arms into Syria.”

“His ‘sultanic’ aspirations and his dream of a new Ottoman Empire are reflected in the new presidential palace that comprises 1,150 rooms. Mr Erdogan also violated the Turkish constitution, which clearly stipulates non-interference by the president in politics, requiring him to remain neutral between the parties. Throughout the elections, he did not miss one opportunity to support the Justice and Development Party and attack its opponents.”

In terms of foreign policy, Mr Erdogan established an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood and extremist groups accused of terrorism. He defended the Brotherhood throughout its downfall in Egypt, then established an alliance with Qatar to help the Brotherhood after its rejection in Egypt.

“If Mr Erdogan wanted to face Iranian aspirations through such an alliance, all he did was displease influential Arab countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states,” he added.

“This is a failure and similarly, Iran’s ambitions will ultimately fail, for such is the will of the people in the region, not that of a new Ayatollah or Sultan.”

In the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat, Yusuf Al Dini wrote that the election result in Turkey showed “for the umpteenth time since the Arab Spring, [that] supporters of political Islam drop their existential plight at the political level on a different and changing reality”. They look instead for a glimmer of hope in the defeat of Mr Erdogan, which does not meet their ideologies nor their actions.

“Mr Erdogan may strike an alliance with opposition parties from the right, which would divide the country internally into nationalist and ethnic blocks and not into competent political parties,” he observed.

“Will all the various ‘Erdoganians’, from Islamists to opposition figures and activists, have the courage to evaluate the Erdogan experience with civil democratic tools, tackling transparency, corruption and law, a right that is their own in their country of origin, or will they just keep praying for the Caliph’s victory and empowerment?”

Translated by Carla Mirza