Atatürk’s View of Erdoğan’s Politics
Atatürk’s View of Erdoğan’s Politics If Atatürk were alive today, he would probably pay more attention to Erdoğan’s achievements than to Erdoğan’s self-presentation. This distinction is extremely important because in politics, what a politician says about a historical figure does not always correspond to what that figure actually left behind. Erdoğan has known for years that he cannot erase Atatürk from Turkish history. Atatürk was not merely a president or a military commander; he was the founder of the Republic of Turkey and the leader of the party whose name and identity became inseparably linked to republicanism and secularism. Therefore, Erdoğan’s disagreement with Atatürk cannot be reduced to a few statements about personal respect or disrespect. The issue is deeper: Which aspects of Atatürk’s republic does Erdoğan agree with, and which does he seek to change? To understand this difference, we must turn to Atatürk himself, rather than to the interpretations that today’s politicia...