For the first time since the founding of the republic in 1923, the Turkish nation has voted overwhelmingly to give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a clear mandate to continue his journey of reshaping Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s century-old legacy in Turkey. Yet, fears about an Islamist agenda persist. But are they justifiable? And is a total break with Ataturk’s severe secularism even possible?
Building on Ataturk’s legacy
Despite a pervasive economic gloom, Erdogan has revived the energy of the republic’s early years. He has driven a wedge between himself and an opposition eager to backpedal toward an elitist Kemalism frozen in time—out of step with the real, deep Turkey and complicit in making the country an appendage of the West.
President Erdogan has been unfairly portrayed as an opponent of Ataturk and compared to an Ottoman sultan—an image he has not actively fought against. In truth, Ataturk was a decisive leader of the nationalist movement that saved the Turkish nation from being carved into confetti states, and he was the first president of the republic that Erdogan now leads.
Erdogan acknowledges Ataturk’s accomplishments without idolizing him. He is the product par excellence of the very society that the founding father built, and therefore he can only build upon that heritage. Two decades at the helm of the nation have shown that he has not embarked on radical change. Rather, he has kept Turkey’s engagement with the West largely intact and, despite what his naysayers claim, has improved Turkish democracy.
Harnessing pervasive nationalism
Atatürk’s doctrine—known as Ataturkism or Kemalism—elevated to dogma a Westernized idea of Turkish identity that shunned its Eastern roots. That identity was articulated against Islam and, more pointedly, against the Kurdish minority. These core tenets were born from the bitterness of the founding fathers, shaped by the perceived betrayal of their Arab, Kurdish, Jewish, and Christian compatriots.
It should be noted that after nearly a hundred years, the dogmatic system established by Mustafa Kemal still has lingering effects on all levels of Turkish society—including the political arena, the economy, the army, education, and the justice system.
For this reason, the AKP in power could not, at least initially, attack head-on the fundamental principles of Kemalism. Erdogan learned in 1998, as a member of the Welfare Party, exactly what kind of pushback an Islamist party eager to dismantle institutional secularism could expect.
The secret to his unique political longevity lies in his shrewd ability to harness Turkish nationalism and pride in glorifying the nation. The younger generation—both in Turkey and in the diaspora—who grew up with Erdogan as their leader and voted overwhelmingly for him last month, swear by him.
Erdoganism, the latest chapter of Turkish revival
Erdogan, however, also grew up on the margins, in opposition to a secular system that alienated a large portion of the Turkish population—people who are the repositories of a thousand-year-old cultural heritage rooted in Islamic and Eastern tradition.
His vision of a “Turkish Century,” with its staunchly conservative and sovereign decision-making, has appealed to the masses. Of course, this agenda is not much to the liking of Turkey’s Western allies, but should that matter? There is little doubt that Turkey will become different—and a beacon for other majority-Muslim countries.
The efforts to push Erdogan from power with the help of an aging Kemalist old guard have backfired this time. The shenanigans, smear campaigns against the president, and attempts to influence voters’ intentions have startled Turks unaccustomed to such intense international scrutiny.
In short, the current trend in Turkish politics is consistent with the socio-political evolution that began about a century ago with the Tanzimat era and Turkey’s local responses to pressing challenges. The recent democratic push embodied by Erdogan is thus the latest chapter in Turkey’s constant renewal—and what some call Erdoganism is, in fact, an actualization of the ideals of the founding fathers of the republic.
