The Second Republic and the Gülenists

Now, it is the turn of “Gülenists” to be eliminated from the bureaucracy and to be deprived of any social and economic power, on the way to “the second one-party period” in Turkey. This country has never had proper democratic mechanisms of checks and balances; nevertheless, the political power has never been so monopolistic, since one-party rule ended in 1950, with the exception of the military rule of 1980-1983.

It was the lack of cohesion among the political parties that paved the way for a kind of “de facto division of power” rather than the separation of the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Only after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in the 2002 elections, did it manage to monopolize the political power in an unprecedented way; now, the last struggle is being fought against “the enemy within” on the way to absolute power under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

For the first time, almost all conservative circles and the Islamists united their forces in 2002. Gülenists were the most powerful of all moderate circles since they were well-established, especially in the police force and in the judiciary, since they had been loyal allies of the state, especially during the military years of the 1980s, while also always displaying strong nationalist credentials.

“Why Gülenists parted their ways from the power structures of the previous status quo” is another complicated story, but finally, they were the major force behind the AKP government to fight against the secularist military and judicial hegemony. Once the struggle was over, Erdoğan decided to eliminate the last obstacle on his way. It is a power struggle first and foremost, but...