 |
Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and president
Abdullah Gul (L) on May
29, 2013 in Istanbul (AFP/File, Mira)
|
ANKARA —
Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul have strongly differing
lines on Turkey's mass protests, throwing a spotlight on their growing rivalry
ahead of next year's elections when both could potentially run for the
presidency, observers say.
Ever since
the first rounds of tear gas were fired at peaceful protesters in Istanbul's
Taksim Square last week, escalating into violent clashes nationwide, Turkey's
powerful prime minister has responded with characteristic defiance.
Despite
facing the biggest challenge to his decade-long rule, the 59-year-old leader
has dismissed the demonstrators as "extremists" and pressed on with
an official trip to North Africa, vowing that the situation at home would be
resolved by the time he returned on Thursday.
That
prediction has been rubbished by demonstrators gathering in ever larger numbers
to call for Erdogan's resignation, accusing him of authoritarianism and of
imposing conservative, Islamic values on the predominantly Muslim but staunchly
secular country.
"It's
very hurtful to be treated this way," Ahmet Insel, a political scientist
at Istanbul's Galatasaray University, said about the many young protesters
whose anger has been stoked by Erdogan's tough stance.
"It's
hard for him (Erdogan) to tone down his aggressive and arrogant language, which
doesn't go down well with an important fringe section of society."
In stark
contrast, 62-year-old head of state Gul -- often described as Turkey's
"good cop" to Erdogan's "bad cop" -- has struck a
conciliatory tone, reassuring the protesters their message had been
"received" and urging them to voice their views in a peaceful way.
But Gul is
no stranger to controversy: his history of political Islam and the symbolism of
his wife's decision to wear a headscarf provoked widespread criticism when he
was elected in 2007.
Pressed to
respond to Gul's softer remarks on the protests, Erdogan said he did not know
what the president meant, "but for me, democracy comes from the ballot
box".
Long
considered close political allies -- Gul and Erdogan co-founded the governing
Islamic-rooted party Justice and Development Party (AKP) which has won three
successive elections since 2002 -- the pair have toed a different line on
several occasions in recent months, including on the issue of lifting immunity
for Kurdish lawmakers.
Observers
say their possible competing bids for the 2014 election, when voters will for
the first time directly elect their president, will increasingly highlight
their differences.
While
neither has officially declared their candidacy, some experts expect incumbent
Gul to seek a second term in 2014.
Populist
Erdogan, whose popularity has grown with every election but whose party rules
bar him from a fourth term as premier, is expected to try to boost the
constitutional powers of the presidency before making his bid.
Experts
believe he wants to continue his political career with a powerful executive
presidency similar to that in the United States, rather than the current
largely ceremonial one.
Erdogan is
credited with bringing relative stability to Turkey after years of rocky
coalition governments, building the country into a regional political and
economic power.
He could
count on the support of half the electorate in the last election but his
zero-tolerance attitude to criticism and his tendency to use the courts to
silence opponents have proven a major test for the country which has long
sought to join the European Union.
Even as the
race for the presidency has yet to be fought out in the open, the
anti-government unrest that has brought thousands to the streets has already
affected the chances of the would-be candidates, according to observers.
"Erdogan
has been weakened by this crisis and his ascent to the post of president has
been compromised," journalist Deniz Zeyrek wrote in an editorial for the
Radikal, a liberal daily.
Gul, on the
other hand, "has consolidated his democratic image", he added.
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.