Trump is Following Erdogan’s Playbook for Autocrats-Part 2

This article continues our analysis of how President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismantled Turkey’s secular democracy and provided a script for other would-be autocrats, including Donald Trump.

A Committed Muslim

Born into a religious, impoverished family, Erdogan moved to Istanbul when he was 13. Unlike Donald Trump, Erdogan has demonstrated a profound commitment to his religion for many years. Early in his political career, Erdogan joined an Islamist party, even though such parties were suspect under Turkey’s secular regime.

Erdogan soon became a rising star in Turkish politics and was elected mayor of Istanbul. He won over skeptical secular voters by following pragmatic policies. However, Erdogan got into serious trouble by publicly quoting a pro-Islamist poem. A judge ruled that Erdogan had incited religious hatred and sentenced him to 10 months in jail. Erdogan had to resign as mayor and served four months of his sentence.

Alienating Secular Turks

Erdogan eventually returned to politics on the national level. But many secular Turks suspected that he would not respect the separation of mosque and state. After Erdogan founded his own Islamist party, secular-minded citizens staged massive rallies against him and his party’s candidates during several campaigns.

Many Turks, especially in Istanbul, also became disenchanted by Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic behavior and close ties with business cronies, notably real estate developers. He has promoted rampant development of the city, often in defiance of public opinion. Rumors of special favors and corruption have swirled constantly around his government.

Fighting the “Deep State”

In addition to his natural empathy for religious voters, Erdogan has long suspected secular government officials of plotting against him. Erdogan particularly fears and hates one group, the Gulenists. Many Turkish intellectuals and bureaucrats have been influenced by Fetullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar and preacher who holds moderate, centrist views.

Gulen and Erdogan used to be political allies, and some of Gulen’s followers worked closely with members of Erdogan’s political party. But the two groups had a bitter rupture in 2011. Gulen himself has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999, in self-imposed exile.

After the split, Erdogan began to rail constantly against the “deep state”. The President claimed that a group of supposed Gulenists-- army officers and other secular government officials--conspired to thwart his initiatives. Erdogan was particularly enraged by investigations into corruption that targeted his allies in the business world, which he blamed on this supposed conspiracy. Many officials simply wanted the government to be secular, competent, and honest.

Isn’t imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Donald Trump copied Erdogan’s phrase. Trump has claimed that the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, and many other government agencies are part of a “deep state” that is dedicated to blocking his policies.

President Erdogan and President Trump/Getty Images

A Failed Coup and a Purge

In 2016, some army units attempted a coup against Erdogan. They were angry about his authoritarian tendencies, his subversion of the secular state, and the corruption in his administration.

Even though the coup quickly failed, Erdogan used it as a pretext for a sweeping purge of civil servants. He fired 100,000 bureaucrats, teachers, and other government employees, accusing them of helping the coup plotters…and being Gulenists.

Erdogan claimed that Gulen had masterminded the coup, and the Turkish government publicly demanded that the United States extradite Gulen. However, President Barack Obama refused, citing a lack of any evidence that Gulen played a role in fomenting the coup.

Courting The Religious Right

Erdogan has increasingly courted conservative, religious voters in the countryside and eastern Turkey. This shift partly reflected his own religious beliefs, of course. But Erdogan also needed to attract a loyal base of supporters after alienating many voters in greater Istanbul, where almost 25% of Turks reside, and other large cities.

The “Monument to the Republic” stands in Taksim Square, honoring Ataturk’s establishment of Turkey as a secular state. On one side of the column, a woman wearing a veil looks downcast. On the other side, a smiling woman with flowing hair looks confidently to the future. These images remind Turks of Ataturk’s moves to liberate women, such as banning the veil and prohibiting government employees from wearing scarves. For secular Turks, this is hallowed ground.

Several years ago, Erdogan backed conservatives’ drive to build a huge mosque next to the Monument. This provoked an outcry from secular Turks, who were appalled. But Erdogan overrode their opposition, delivering a major victory to the religious right and a powerful message: the secular republic is fading into history.

Turning Hagia Sofia into A Mosque

In another highly controversial decision, three years ago the President ordered that Hagia Sofia be converted from a museum into a mosque. This was a very significant symbolic step, given Hagia Sofia’s preeminence and history.

The Roman Emperor Justinian built the enormous basilica about 530 A.D., as he made Constantinople the capital of the Christian faith. For 900 years, Hagia Sofia remained the largest church in the world. After the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, they turned Hagia Sofia into a mosque. However, in 1934, under the Turkish Republic, Hagia Sofia became a museum…and one of Istanbul’s most popular tourist sites.

Tourists can still visit Hagia Sofia, but access is more limited, because the mosque is closed to visitors during the five daily religious services. The government covered a famous mosaic of Mary in the sanctuary’s ceiling and closed to visitors the upper galleries, which contain other mosaics.

In a similar move with political overtones, the government is converting the Chora Church into a mosque. This is a small church, not as symbolic as Hagia Sofia, but it is adorned with some of the most beautiful Greek Orthodox mosaics ever created.

Trump II: Istanbul on the Potomac?

As President, Donald Trump spoke highly of Erdogan, declaring himself “a big fan”.

Trump’s recent pronouncements indicate that if he won a second term, he would pursue the authoritarian techniques that Erdogan has used so effectively to subvert Turkish democracy. Trump would also use the power of the state to punish his “enemies.” This time, Trump would take off the gloves—no more “Mister Nice Guy”.

Trump has assiduously courted Christian evangelicals, an essential part of his “base”, while he demonizes Democrats as “Marxists, Communists and fascists”. Like Erdogan, he has tailored his policies with an eye to keeping the religious right happy. But in Trump’s case, it’s a matter of political expediency, not religious conviction.

If Trump is re-elected President, he won’t just criticize the “fake news”. This time, Trump might well use the Internal Revenue Service to harass newspapers or other media outlets. Trump might even order his Attorney General, who would be a compliant toady, to prosecute journalists on specious grounds.

Shredding the Civil Service

Trump has often raged about the need to destroy the “deep state”. His advisors have already mapped out plans for a massive purge of government employees in a new Trump administration. They intend to replace apolitical civil servants with loyal hacks who will blindly carry out Trump’s orders, whether they are legal or not.

Here’s one more parallel with Erdogan. Although Turkey is an important member of NATO, Erdogan has not been a reliable ally. The Turkish leader has cozied up to Vladimir Putin, cooperating with him in Syria and buying a defense system from the Russians. Erdogan has also angered the United States and Turkey’s other Western allies by blocking Sweden’s admission to NATO.

Sound familiar?

The Wall Street Democrat