Erdogan Veers Away From 'Reformed Moderate Islam'
Turkey's prime minister returns to his ideological roots with his emotional support of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who appeared on a live program on Ulke TV, which is close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), couldn’t finish the program.
To understand why, let’s read a two-sentence news item that appeared Aug. 23 on the front page of the mainstream daily Hurriyet: "Prime Minister Erdogan, while listening to the farewell letter that Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagy wrote to his daughter, who was killed in recent incidents, could not hold back his tears. When Erdogan couldn’t stop crying after several minutes and continue talking, the program was ended."
Hurriyet editors used the headline: "Couldn’t Speak Because of His Crying."
This is the first time the Turkish public saw Erdogan, who has been in power for 11 years, in such a mood, totally overtaken by his emotions. The prime minister was, of course, sincere. While crying on screen for several minutes, he wasn’t attempting to collect votes by exploiting emotions.
