The way terrorist organizations, the opposition, and the West perceive Türkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is similar and problematic. And they certainly need a guide.
The title of this article should be “Guide for reading Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.” But there are so many incomplete readings about Mr. President in the world that I prefer to consider it, at least, together with the guide for reading Türkiye.
As writing these lines, new footage started to flow in the media from the meeting of Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in Astana. In the last century, when a crisis broke out anywhere in the world, European capitals and leaders, even the Swiss president, used to be always in the news of the international press and media. Now, Russia is at war with all the Western states, and the only country in the world that can talk between the Western states and Russia is Türkiye, and the only leader is Erdoğan. French President Emmanuel Macron tried to assume such a role, but neither Western states nor Russia preferred his mediation.
After the end of the Cold war, the world turned around under the leadership of the United States. During the period that it had no rival for a while, the U.S. conducted many unjust occupations and unlawful acts. The lack of a counterbalancing power caused the U.S. to decay.
China's economic growth as a state and Russia's reemergence on the security scene uncovered fundamental weaknesses of the U.S. leadership. With the addition of leadership weaknesses in other Western countries to this problematic space of power, the geopolitics of the globe underwent radical changes. In the last period of the Ottoman Empire, there was an often used term: "Kaht-ı rical," which meant the lack of qualified statesmen. The Western states seem to suffer from a similar problem now.
If we look at the "Guide for reading Türkiye" two centuries ago, the Ottoman state was the dominant state in a region extending from the Balkans to Africa, from Central Europe to the Caucasus and the Middle East. The Turkish influence was then under suppression for two centuries, and some other states appeared on the stage, which exerted influence in the world. Today history is coming back again.
Over the last 10 years, Türkiye has been expanding its influence gradually. We all know how it manages political relations in every geography, including the West, Africa, the United States, Russia, Turkish states, and the Middle East. The leader of Türkiye's new role, Erdoğan, knows the limits of his power and implements it to the end of its borders as much as possible without ever exceeding the limit.
When Türkiye, as a nation-state, turned to fortify its hard power, the PKK, Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), and even Daesh terrorist organizations tried to overthrow Erdoğan and gain a position against Türkiye. The PKK and FETÖ terrorist organizations linked their entire future to getting rid of Erdoğan.
The opposition's way of reading Türkiye and Erdogan is problematic, but they also have the same deviated way of reading about Türkiye's potential and vision. That's why they can't understand the Turkish people or Erdoğan.
Western countries that have ruled the world for 200 years do not realize they are losing influence. They continue to rule the world with their old reflexes and old habits. But regardless of their understanding, Western influence is fading. Neither the United Kingdom has its previous prestige in its former colonies nor France, as it no longer controls African countries. It is interesting to observe that these countries, including the United States, have the same attitude as our opposition parties toward Türkiye and its people's beloved President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and maintain the same problematic points of view.
Russia and Türkiye have confrontations and conflicting interests in Syria, Libya, Caucasus, Crimea, and many other areas. But again, Russia has become the first country to realize Türkiye's new vision and influence, as well as the leadership effect of Erdogan. In a way, Russia develops a more rational dialogue and endeavors to maintain a strenuous relationship with Türkiye compared to the West, which continues with its arrogance of their colonial days.
Although the Ukraine-Russia war has created new problems in many areas of the world, it has been instrumental in understanding what kind of power Türkiye corresponds to in the global geopolitical arena.
Erdoğan and Türkiye found their place on the world stage. Their diplomatic initiatives in different parts of the world were spectacular. Today, Türkiye, under the leadership of its president, turned out to be the only country that can talk to Russia and the West.
The leader nobody supposedly wanted has become the leader everybody wants at their table. When it is destiny for a country to expand, many excuses and reasons pop up. As Ibn Khaldun said: Just as water is like water, the future of nations is like its past.
