By Nadja Aswad
Turkey is voting in two weeks. And it seems as if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (69) is running out of breath! Is his tough autocracy crumbling after two decades?
Turkey is voting in two weeks. And it seems as if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (69) is running out of breath!
On Tuesday, during a live interview with Erdogan, choking noises could be heard – shortly afterwards the president ended the conversation, completely pale, saying he had “stomach flu”.
But speculation on the Internet boiled up to the point of heart attack! The government’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun (46): “We categorically reject such unsubstantiated claims regarding the health of the President.”
BUT: Turkey experts see the controversial president as powerless.
With deep circles under his eyes and pale skin, Erdogan appeared in a video conference with Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin (70) on Thursday Photo: picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Journalist Eren Güvercin (43, including FAZ, “Cicero”) to BILD: “Erdogan is ailing, both politically and in terms of health.” His charisma and strong rhetoric have “faded.”
Prof. Yavuz Köse (51, University of Vienna) finds: Erdogan’s body language and demeanor “indicate signs of fatigue” – perhaps he will notice “that the presidential election could actually become a fateful choice for him,” the Turkology professor continued.
All the same: Erdogan took the most important election campaign date of the week, the opening of the first Turkish nuclear power plant, at least virtually. With deep circles under his eyes and pale skin, he appeared in a video link with Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin (70) on Thursday.
Politically, too, the air is getting thin for Erdogan: opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (74) has a good chance of replacing the president, Erdogan’s poll results are worse than ever.
SPD right-wing politician Macit Karaahmetoglu (54) to BILD: “The current president has disappointed many, Turkey is economically on the brink.”
The list of Erdogan’s transgressions is long
► Earthquake Help: Critics have long accused Erdogan of abandoning his people and blamed him for the slow pace of aid after the fatal earthquake in February. 47 000 people died. Kilicdaroglu attacks here head-on, accusing the Erdogan regime of incompetence with regard to disaster management.
► Corruption: A massive corruption scandal shook Turkey ten years ago: It was about dodgy construction deals. Three ministers resigned, one was sacked, ten members of the government were reappointed and 500 police officers were removed from service. In focus: Erdogan and a companion who had become an enemy – the controversial preacher Fethullah Gülen (82). The allegations of corruption continue to this day.
Among others, mafia boss Sedat Peker (lives in exile) accuses Erdogan’s environment; speaks of links to organized crime, drug trafficking and unsolved murders!
► Economic crisis: Two weeks ago, the lira slipped to its lowest level since its inception in January 2005! The exchange rate was 19.59 Turkish lira per dollar (New York Stock Exchange). Inflation in March was 50.51 percent year-on-year (Germany inflation in March: 7.4 percent).
Young people in particular suffer from the miserable conditions in the country: their everyday life is characterized by anger and a lack of prospects. Güvercin believes: “Erdogan is above all afraid of first-time voters.”
But support for the president is also dwindling among women.
Turkology Prof. Köse to BILD: “Last but not least, many female voters are likely to turn away from Erdogan and the AKP.” Reason: They would increasingly reject “the ultra-conservative to misogynistic positions of the president”.
► And: More and more Turks, especially religious ones, would now turn “against the instrumentalization of religion by politicians”.
SPD man Karaahmetoglu believes: “The opposition has a good chance of ending the Erdogan era.” Güvercin also smells the dawn: “Turkey is facing a fateful election – and Erdogan has his back to the wall.”