A turning point for Turkey?

After the local elections in Türkiye in March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan got one thing right in his speech on the balcony when he recognized the defeat of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP): March 31 is not the end. This is the turning point.

The main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), led by its new leader Zgur Zeil, scored victory in thirty-five of Turkey in eighty-one provinces (compared to twenty-four for the AKP) and overall obtained 37 percent of the votes against 35 percent for the AKP. It also secured fourteen of the thirty metropolitan areas, of which the largestIstanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Antalya and Adana, against twelve for the AKP.

The question is where the rise in popular support for Atatrk's party, the CHP, will lead, and how, in Turkey's fragmented political climate, it can lead to institutional change.

Five years after the AKP came to power, it was already clear that the government's goal was to restore the role of the AKP. religion in public life to counter the turkeys forced westernization introduced by the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatrk. The AKP was essentially a grassroots movement, which forced Erdoan to ally himself with Turkish cleric Fethullah Glen and his movement.

Like Erdoan, Glen's ultimate goal was to restore Islam as a guiding principle of Turkish society. Consequently, the disciples of Glens, through a policy of recruitment, were able to occupy positions in the state administration for which AKP cadres were not qualified. Glen himself stated in television images in 1999: You must wait until you have obtained all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institutions in Turkey.

On December 17, 2013, a confrontation broke out between the Glen movement and the AKP when police launched a series of anti-corruption operations with accusations of corruption against four government ministers close to Erdoan, then prime minister. More than a hundred people were arrested, including the owners of three large construction companies.

The second phase of the corruption investigation, on December 23 of the same year, which allegedly involved Erdoan's son, Bilal, was blocked by Erdoan. He claimed it was a judicial coup.

A popular song during football matches It was wherever there was corruption, wherever there was corruption, and the government was called to resign. The corruption investigation and subsequent revelations caused support for the AKP to plummet. 44 percentunder the 50 percent the party won in the 2011 elections.

It is therefore not surprising that Erdoan, now president, considers failed coup attempt in July 2016 as a gift from God and an opportunity to clean virus of all state institutions. It was then that a witch hunt began. nearly 9,000 police officers were dismissed or reassigned, notably in the intelligence, financial crime, fight against organized crime and fight against terrorism departments. Prosecutors were repressed and steps were taken to bring the judiciary under government control. Top officials at the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and the Turkish Radio and Television Company (TRT) were also reshuffled.

At the same time, the Erdoans claim to be a man of the people is worn thin. Government employees or ordinary workers must be dragoned to participate in mass gatherings for fear of losing their jobs. Furthermore, he has hijacked the Atatrk forest farma first degree environmental protection zone outside Ankara, to build a luxurious presidential complex.

Not happy with that, the historic Yildiz Palace in Istanbul was reserved for the use of the president, and a new presidential palace near Lake Van in eastern Turkey is being built in defiance of a court order.

Erdoğan new summer residence near Marmaris, in southwest Turkey, has also sparked outrage, especially since the wife of the presidentknown for her expensive Hermès handbags and shopping sprees, had advised people to reduce their meal portions to avoid waste.

Galloping inflation has impoverished millions of Turkish families, which is not helped by Erdo's lack of interest. Four years ago, visiting Malatya In eastern Turkey, workers complained they could not bring home bread. So Erdoan told them to stop complaining, threw them tea bags and asked them to enjoy a nice cup of tea. Like I commented At the time, a lot can be said about Marie Antoinette, but at least she didn't throw buns at people when they said they couldn't afford bread (as the tale goes apocryphal).

A year later, Erdoan did it again by throwing tea bags to victims of forest fires in southwest Turkey. Ahval News concluded: Drop by drop, the fury against the Erdoan regime is accumulating. The results can be seen in the local elections in March and a recent survey, where nearly 70 percent think President Recep Tayyip Erdoans' AKP is the party of the rich. Only 16 percent think the AKP is on the side of the poor. There is also considerable anger among survivors of last year's devastating February earthquake, who feel abandoned and ignored.

There is also great resentment towards influx of Russians, who, by purchasing apartments, or even entire buildings, have inflated costs and increased the shortage of affordable rental housing. When Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Ankara again last month, President Erdoan boasted that more than 1,000 Hamas members were being treated in Turkish hospitals. However, not all Turks are happy.

A good friend of mine, who is caring for his seriously ill ninety-year-old father, tried for days to find him a bed in a major hospital in Ankara, only to find two floors occupied by Palestinians. Apparently, they are given all the attention, even cigarettes.

Erdogan, for his part, speaks of a softening period in Turkish politics. In that case, he would do well to take steps to improve the situation of his own people. As my good friend added: The Turks are hungry.

Robert Ellis is a Turkish analyst and commentator. He is also an international advisor at the Research Institute of European and American Studies (RIEAS) in Athens.

Image: Fortton / Shutterstock.com.