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Thu. February 06, 2025
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Türkiye 2023: “The Century of Türkiye” is in the making
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Two different political options for crisis periods

The Turkish people voted and reconfirmed their trust in Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s imperial vision. Contrary to what so many Western media described, the clash between the two candidates was not between “Right” and “Left”, between “conservation” and “progress”, or between “Islam” and “Kemalism”. This interpretative apparatus does not capture the “Turkish prism” in all its complexity and gradients; on the contrary, it offers a distorted and banal image.

The Anatolian peasant, stocky and tough as represented by “The Man of the Earth” by Neset Günal (“Toprak Adam”, 1974), visible in the Istanbul Modern Museum, has the same dignity as the more westernized urban elites of Istanbul. And given that Turkey's strength is the "strength in numbers", the Anatolians shift the balance.

In truth, the duel embodied by the two challengers was between two visions for the “The Century of Türkiye: the continuation of Erdogan’s imperial mandate, with its various declinations (foreign policy, energy policy) or a more protective and attentive to the social needs approach expressed by Kiliçdaroglu, in anticipation of times that will be complex for the entire global economy.

In short, these are two different and fiercely opposing visions, but they start from a shared value: “Türkiye must have role, status, and dignity” – as the ICYF President Taha Ayhan encapsulated it recently during his FLEP program. “It is the country’s historical vertical along with its geographic centrality that offers Türkiye a power projection in both Heartland and the Rimland.” Moreover, the country is a fundamental partner of NATO with an increasing strategic autonomy.

The global upheavals certainly influenced the outcome of the vote: faced with so much uncertainty, Turkish people preferred the reliability of the current President. Likewise, the two candidates gave voice to two social bodies with real aspirations and needs. The outcome has rewarded the outgoing President, but the opposition has weight and represents a social body, even not homogeneous, that can have an impact.

The analysis of the vote: communication, opposing territories, earthquake

They were the most critical elections for 100 years, as demonstrated by the high participation (88% and 85%) and the need for a further step, the runoff.

The two candidates set up two very different electoral campaigns: Erdogan impersonated an imperial Türkiye with inaugurations and huge crowds (and a “top gun”-style photo) while Kiliçdaroglu spoke to the “gut of the country” by publishing many videos – deliberately of low quality – from his home in which he denounced the economic crisis facing the country.

Erdogan kept the Anatolian strongholds and held on to some earthquake-hit provinces, such as Gaziantep (nearly 60% in the first round), not Adana. The vote of the coasts is also interesting given that Turkey overlooks two seas, Akdeniz (White Sea) and Karadeniz (Black Sea): Kiliçdaroglu scored higher percentage in the Mediterranean coast (over 50% in Antalya) while the Black Sea voted for the President, as in the Trabzon case (65%).

Istanbul rewarded the opposition, but Erdogan did not collapse: 48.56% (4.928.772) against 46.68% (4.738.680); the same dynamic for Ankara, where Kiliçdaroglu won with 47%. The provinces where the Kurdish people are present – Mardin, Batman, Van and Diyarbakir (Kiliçdaroglu over 70%) above all – located on the border, the water crossing between the Tigris and Euphrates, vote convincingly for the opposition.

Regarding the vote for the assembly, it should be noted that: the Cumhur coalition lead by the current president remains first and the AKP leads it with more than 30% and should go from the current 288 seats to 266, while the MHP (10 %) from the current 48 to 50; the Kemalist party CHP of the opposition candidate (25%) is growing significantly, which should go from 134 to 169 elected, and so also the IYI Parti (9%) which should increase its seats from 36 to 44; the Yesil Sol Parti (green and progressive party) obtained about 10% and won the seats (62), in the Kurdish areas, overtaking the CHP itself and the coalition of Kiliçdaroglu. Certainly, having obtained the majority in parliament provided extra assist to Erdogan.

Erdogan’s project: energy and food autonomy, infrastructure, Islam

The confirmed president, the former mayor of the megalopolis on the Bosphorus, has spearheaded a twenty-years period of change for Türkiye. Türkiye has developed a world-class industrial and manufacturing system and has enhanced the extraction capacities of minerals and natural resources.

Türkiye has become a checkpoint for hydrocarbons flows which reach the Old Continent from the heart of Asia; in the meantime, it has increased the share of energy produced from renewable sources. In addition, the new Akkuyu nuclear power plant, which received its first shipment of nuclear fuel in May, could produce up to 10% of the electricity Türkiye needs.

Furthermore, Türkiye is one of the leading global grain producers. Cereal production occupies about 75% of cultivated land in Türkiye. With a production of wheat (about 21 million tons) and barley (about 9 million tons), Türkiye is one of the world’s largest producers. Besides cotton and tobacco, sugar beet is another important industrial crop (about 22 million tons). In 2020, Türkiye exported nearly 1780 different types of agricultural products to 240 countries for a total of $21 billion.

So, the basis of Turkish development is progressive energy and food autonomy - a strategy to respond to global resource shortages accelerated after the Russian invasion. In the face of industrial development, which has been rapid, Islam remains an indispensable social glue: it guarantees continuity in discontinuity.

 

Sources

Anadolu Ajansi, Seçim 2023: https://secim.aa.com.tr/

Iea.com, https://www.iea.org/countries/turkiye

Akkuyu.com, http://www.akkunpp.com/

Tarimsal Arastirmalar ve Politikalar Genel Müdürlügü, https://www.tarimorman.gov.tr/TAGEM

 

Lorenzo Somigli is a journalist and press officer; assistant to the Chamber of Deputies he follows the Environment Commission. He has reported in Lebanon and Türkiye; writes on energy and geopolitics for Transatlantic Policy Quarterly magazine.

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