This thread should get interesting.
Erdogan seems like he quietly slid from slightly right wing to full on dictatorial ambitions. What does TurkeyGaf think the roadmap looks like?
Seeing as Erdogan's party won the last election by a landslide victory of 45-48% by a "Consistence" bid (regarding PKK and Southeastern Anatolian conflicts), all I see it utter hell. No hope left in this country or nation. I honestly can't think of how I can bear living in this hell hole if I don't manage to study abroad. Dictatorship. Rampant radical Islamism. No freedom of press whatsoever. Conflicts. War. Terrorism. Sexism that goes far beyond what many GAFfers are used to (women in video games sound incredibly inconsequential when you live in a country where men often murder their ex-wives for running away from their marriage because they were subjected to violence almost daily). To hell with it all. A country that supports Erdogan to power deserves anything it gets. No hope for it in the slightest. This is no longer the nation Ataturk raised from its ashes.
Why did anyone vote for them????
1) Most overtly Islamic leader
2) Guy's been in power in since... 2003 or so now. People are afraid of change.
3) Very nationalist.
4) Provides scapegoats. Just look at the Gezi protests, the guy literally sent an ultimatum to the protesters saying "I'm having trouble keeping the 50% (his voter base then) at bay". The guy that can loudly and proudly proclaim things like "There's freedom of press in this country"-just google Can Dundar, Erdogan condemned the CONSTITUTIONAL COURT's decision to let go of two very prominent opposing authors whom Erdogan got jailed back last December claiming they insulted him or something, let me know if you want a translation of Dundar's response after he was let go from prison (what was the word for having let go from prison?). This is the guy that can fully claim that he will bring """"""""""""""stability""""""""""""" into the country after the Ankara attacks back in October that killed 99. Now a touristic area in Istanbul and 60 soldiers in Ankara were bombed.
5) Lack of a unifying opposing leader.
The most prominent figures in Turkish politics right now are:
CHP (Ataturk's party, now run by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, liberal party, runner-up to Erdogan's AKP in terms of votes),
MHP (Run by Devlet Bahçeli, heavily nationalist party, acts very idiotically),
HDP (Run by Selahaddin Demirtas, party promoting and protecting Kurdish interests).
As you see, there isn't any single leader in there who can unite this nation. As a result, the largest band of idiots win.
6) His fanbase is borderline REVERENT. I've seen people hang flags with his face on it instead of the national flag on national days.
I just hope no official comes across this, because then it's probably jaily-time for me (he also jails people for making fun of him, a prime example being that a doctor was arrested recently for posting a (hilarious) picture comparing Erdogan to Gollum).
