BURAK BEKDİL : " Η Ιστορία κ. Ερντογάν δεν άρχισε το 1453"

So, Istanbul is a Greek city?

Some observers have lately been advising foreign governments not to worry too much about Turkey’s (President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s) increasingly aggressive irredentist rhetoric because it is largely targeted at domestic consumption rather than addressing the relevant foreign audience. Well, yes and no.  

It is true that revisionist/nationalist rhetoric sells very well in Turkey’s marketplace of ideas (and, increasingly, in other countries too). It is also true that Mr. Erdoğan’s most imminent target audience is, naturally, the average Turkish voter – the man who can most easily be captured by any irredentist rhetoric dancing around appealing nationalist claims such as “our glorious past,” “the great injustice our great nation had to suffer a century ago,” “a just need to correct the wrong flow of history,” or “we shall one day revive our fallen empire.” Add to those the “we are the ‘most devout Muslims’ rhetoric” you will not just catch a voter but a devoted fan who will be prepared to die or kill for you. 

But the fact that Mr. Erdoğan’s main target group is the average Turkish voter does not change the fact that he also wholeheartedly believes in what he says, or that he could turn rhetoric into some insane action one day if he thinks, out of a moment of miscalculation, Turkey is powerful enough to “correct the wrong flow of history,” in the words of former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.  

Για τη συνέχεια Hurriet