From Atatürk to Erdoğan

On Aug. 28, Turkey’s new president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, assumed office with a series of ceremonies – at Parliament, at the presidential palace where former President Abdullah Gül changed seats with him and at Anıtkabir, the resting place of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey’s founder. The latter was particularly interesting, because it is no secret that Erdoğan comes from political tradition that has been quite critical of Atatürk and his political legacy. So, what Erdoğan wrote in the “memorial notebook” of Anıtkabir was worth examining.

And it was interesting indeed. Because Erdoğan drew a clear line between Atatürk and himself, defining the time in between (from 1938 to 2014) as some form of a deviation from the ideal presidency. As the Hürriyet Daily News reported, Erdoğan wrote:

“Beloved Atatürk … after your death, the bond between the office of the presidency and the people was weakened. I believe the tenure I start today is a means for the people to embrace their president and for the state to embrace its nation.”

Why did Erdoğan draw this historical connection? One explanation is he had to give lip service to Atatürk, as every Turkish politician has to do, whatever his thoughts are. But still, this connection was something that went beyond lip service. Another explanation is Erdoğan turned into an “Atatürkist,” embracing all the policies and the ideological legacy of the Supreme Leader. But one must be quite naïve to think that way, because the ideological differences between Erdoğan and Atatürk are still all too obvious.

Therefore, I have another explanation for the from-Atatürk-to-Erdoğan symbolism: Erdoğan...