I do not think Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime
Minister, is not listening to the protesters in Istanbul and elsewhere in the
country. In my opinion, he is very much aware of the reasons for the
demonstrations. He knows that many people in the big cities are opposed to his
politics of “cultural change”. But he is inspired by a very strict approach to
religion and does not want to give up. He thinks he is in a mission, to bring
Islam back to the centre of public life in Turkey. He knows that many
traditional sectors of society welcome that kind of approach. Therefore, there
is political mileage in pursuing it, he believes. As he also seems to believe
that he can do with the opponents in the cities as he did with the top military
officers: to intimidate them, to put the leaders in prison, under bizarre
charges, to invent treason plots, to silence them. He might be convinced he
will succeed. I wouldn’t be so sure.
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