Erdogan Aims to Leave a Mark in History Like Atatürk: Le Monde

In the French newspaper "Le Monde" article titled "Where is Turkey Going?", it is mentioned that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aims to leave a mark in history like Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, while recently the winds have begun to blow in the opposite direction.

Ermenihaber presents an excerpt from that article:

“Ideological affiliation has gradually overtaken Erdogan’s early pragmatism and initial voluntary initiatives. In hindsight, the desire to anchor in the Old Continent, which he loudly and openly declared in the past, seems to have been a tactic to remove the military from the governing system—translated: to remove an obstacle to his march towards absolute monarchy (absolutism). Erdogan, characterized by his critics as a new sultan, created a presidential system tailored to his objectives. He is someone who tells women how many children they should have while simultaneously appointing all ministers and imposing financial policies.

Erdogan’s dream is to leave a mark in history comparable to that left by the founder of the republic, Mustafa Kemal, better known as Atatürk, whose legacy Erdogan has never stopped denying. However, in the 2019 local elections, his Justice and Development Party lost many large cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, to the Kemalist opposition. Now, due to the currency crisis and double-digit inflation, the ranks of his rivals have significantly expanded,” the article states.