Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addressed thousands of cheering supporters in the conservative stronghold of Kayseri on Friday, appealing to grassroots followers after weeks of often violent protest against him and his government. A sea of flags filled the main square of this industrial city in Anatolia's pious heartland. A giant portrait of Erdogan hung from the ramparts of the ancient castle alongside that of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of modern Turkey.
The rally was held to urge voters to back his ruling AK Party before municipal polls next March, but the blunt-talking 59-year-old harangued opponents and cast three weeks of widespread unrest as a story of "us" against "them". The protests have underlined divisions in Turkish society between religious conservatives who form the bedrock of Erdogan's support, and more liberal Turks who have swelled the numbers of peaceful demonstrators.
"They say they are educated, they are artists, they are the rich, they know everything, they understand it all," he said from on stage, against a backdrop of the snow-capped Mount Erciyes some 25 km (15 miles) south of the city. "They think their vote is not equal to the votes of Ahmet or Mehmet or the shepherd in Kayseri. They have enjoyed their whiskies on the banks of the Bosphorus," he added, elicting boos from many in a crowd of more than 15,000.
Erdogan also targeted the "Standing Man", a protester whose lone, silent vigil on Istanbul's Taksim Square earlier this week inspired thousands across Turkey to copy him and help relieve tensions after fierce clashes between demonstrators and police. "What they know best is how to stand still themselves and make others stand still. They have stopped us everywhere, they made us stand in pharmacies, university gates, gas, sugar and bread queues."
Erdogan, who holds similar rallies over the weekend in Samsun on the Black Sea coast and the eastern city of Erzurum, sees himself as a champion of democratic reform and has been riled by protests against his perceived authoritarianism. "My master, it's been 10 years since you arrived. You have transformed Turkey," read a banner. Cities like Kayseri, one of the "Anatolian Tigers" whose small industries have flourished under a decade of AK Party rule, have been spared the sort of clashes concentrated in Istanbul, the capital Ankara and the nearby city of Eskisehir.
Here, Erdogan has widespread support. "We have voted for him for the past three elections and I can't think of anyone else to vote for at the next one as well," said Tuba Ikiz, a 27-year-old shopkeeper wearing a headscarf. Erdogan, who won his third consecutive election in 2011 with 50 percent support, has enacted democratic reforms, including curbing powers of an army that toppled four governments in four decades and pursuing an end to 30 years of Kurdish rebellion.
But he brooks little dissent. Hundreds of military officers have been jailed on charges of plotting a coup against Erdogan; others, including academics, journalists and politicians, face trial on similar accusations. Among the large section of Turkey's 76 million people who do not back him, Erdogan is viewed as increasingly authoritarian and too quick to meddle in their private lives. Recent restrictions on the sale of alcohol have fuelled their suspicions that he has a creeping Islamist agenda.
That resentment spilled into open protest when police cracked down on a group of environmentalists opposed to his plans to develop a central Istanbul square in late May, spreading to other cities and turning violent night after night. Sporadic clashes have continued, including in Ankara where around 1,000 people took to the streets overnight, and in Mersin, on Turkey's southern coast, where riot police also used water cannon and teargas to break up demonstrations as Erdogan attended the opening ceremony of the Mediterranean Games.
The severity of the police crackdown, particularly in the initial days, has drawn international condemnation, notably from key trade partner Germany, casting a shadow over Turkey's long-stalled talks on joining the European Union. Turkey and Germany summoned each other's ambassadors on Friday in an escalating row over Chancellor Angela Merkel's criticism of the handling of the demonstrations and her reluctance to see the country join the EU. Some government ministers struck a more conciliatory tone this week as the protests generally became less tense, with Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc saying the silent protests "should be encouraged".
Comments
Comments are closed.