Recep Tayyip Erdogan has the greatest influence on the development of modern Turkey after Kemal Pasha Ataturk. After his success in the 2002 elections, he justified the trust of the Turks through economic growth, and the population supported him in the referendums on constitutional changes. Through them, following the instructions of the European Union, he subordinated the army to civilian control, and he became the most powerful president after Ismet Inonu through the majority in parliament and control over the mass media. After gaining power, he began to persecute political opponents, and some of his political moves reflect an autocratic way of ruling. The master's thesis analyzes the changes in the modern Turkish state through the networks of power that were established in the Ottoman Empire and are reflected in the entire Turkish history. The relationship between the sovereign, the army, and the ulema (the religious-ideological network) is crucial for understanding the political developments in Turkey. During the Ottoman Empire, the sultans ruled the country between the ideological control of the ulema and the influence of the military. Ataturk secularized and modernized Turkey, and pushed Islam into the private sphere. When his successors tried to reverse the trend of secularization, these attempts provoked military coups. Erdogan has reversed this pattern by subordinating the Turkish Armed Forces to civilian authority. The master's thesis concludes that Erdogan is not a dictator, but has the strong features of a democratic autocrat.
|
