>

Exactly, people usually comment without acknowledging the causes. To be completely honest, before the 2002 elections Turkey was in a serious economic crisis and Islamists was legitimately oppressed mainly because of the coup in the '80 and the leading events that tracks to late 90s. So, he got elected with 34%. In the following years thanks (his thanks) to IMF audits and some islamic reforms he appeared as a savior and solidified his position, so we are at this point now. Of course this is a very simplified version of recent Turkish politics, so take it with a grain of salt.
Erdogan is a constrained tyrant. The tail will wag the dog, if he's faced with the possibility of losing power. >

unless he can find something domestic to fight I'm not sure how he does that  
he can't fight NATO since all his power comes with being the fringest member of nato, and if he attacks somewhere east he just alienates the other side he relies on. >

Eh, he could always start another "antiterrorism" campaign to reduce the Kurdish population in eastern Turkey, that's usually a pretty popular move! >

Or do another pretend coup d’etat >

This is the most likely direction IMO. >

Yep worked for him once. >

Seems risky to light a match when there is a lot of flammable debris around. >


Seems risky to light a match when there is a lot of flammable debris around.

you're underestimating how stupid the average person is
i love democracy, but it absolutely allows idiots who are dumb as rocks to make very damaging political decisions swayed by emotional rather than logical reasons. It's the same reason the U.S. got stuck with Trump for four years even though he was woefully unqualified to be president >

"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with an average voter." >

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." >

That's some hope at the end of a very dark tunnel.
Will the citizens fight for a brighter future, though? >

Hopefully they won't have to fight, just show up to vote. >

That has never been the issue.

The voter turnout for the average of 18 parliamentary election is 81.4%; of the local elections is 78.7% and of the referendums is 83.1%. >

I'd be curious to the validity of that data, if it's coming from Erdogan's government reporting.. >

Voting is mandatory in Turkey, and you have to pay a fine of some sort if you don’t show up; so the majority of the country does vote, but that doesn’t mean they all have concrete political opinions. >

But isn't it true that Turks can also vote from abroad by post, and Erdoğan gets a huge amount of support from Turks living elsewhere? The very ones that don't have to live under his rule anymore keep helping to put him back in >

Yes you’re definitely correct, that is also a major factor in his base of support.
Which is wild because any abroad living Turk I’ve met HATES Erdoğan, but these are all young progressive people, so I imagine the support comes from the older traditional crowd. >

I can’t confirm that second statement. There are quite some 50+ year old, who root for him. I‘ve seen pictures of him on the wall in the back of small Turkish shops in Germany. I can’t tell if it would be a majority, but it seems to be a thing at least. >

Live in berlin, can partly confirm - some turkish immigrants love him, others loathe him, none are in between.
It has much to do with the origin of the person in question... were they originally more educated, secular and urban? They tend to hate him... instead those from rural conservative areas of the country form his base. >


Erdogan has developed increasingly close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin while tightening social freedoms and flouting European court rulings

Fuckin guy is a tyrant. Türkiye should be proud to have kept the possibility to vote this wannabe dictator out. The longer he stays in power the more likely voting him out will no longer be an option. That would be a damn shame. >

I wonder if he might try to pull a Trump if he actually loses. >

Given Brazil did it, and those things are so heavily promoted by anti-NATO/West entities (and yes, this includes conservative media) it almost certainly will happen. >

He's already had his chance to purge the military of non yes men too. >

Those non-yes men previously purged secularists in the army. >

Few people know that aside from America, Turkey was one of a very few countries on earth with a true separation of church and state in law, if not entirely in practice, and that idiot Erdrogan took it away. >

He's been committed to ruining the legacy of one of the greatest men to ever live; Mustafa Kemal. Absolute embarrassment of a man. I hope Turkey can remove him and get back on the right path. >

Not to mention Ataturk is rolling in his grave and spitting on Erdogans name. >

The problem is that Turks love a "Strongman" ever since Ataturk. That's the dynamic that Erdogan plays on. >

Turks don’t gaf about “strongman” players.
They love backgammon, tea, and telling Greeks that everything they have is actually of Turkish origin.
Everything else is just an asshole (Erdogan) who is abusing power as much as humanly possible with the support of hyper rich (saudis) nations who are willing and able to buy influence. >


Turks don’t gaf about “strongman” players.

I don't comment in these posts often but I've had too much raki to pass on this comment. People here sure do love a populist "leader". So, yes they do give a fuck about "strongman". Fortunately, there is another "strongman" in the horizon. >

Yeah, saying people don't care about him is trying to avoid taking any blame for his regime. The "Strongman" persona is popular to some extent all over the world, it's a trap most, if not all, countries can fall into. Turkey has Erdogan, Russia has Putin, the US had Trump, Italy had Berlusconi etc. etc.
They're not all exactly the same, of course, and some have done a lot more damage than others, but the image of the 'strong, independent leader who has easy solutions to society's biggest problems' is ensnaring for many people and always has been. Especially when times are bad and people a desperate.
It's a tired example, but Hitler was exactly this type of character and was for years widely respected, also outside Germany's borders, before the war started and the atrocities really came to light.