A few minutes after Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu posted his emotional resignation on Twitter, I received a call from a senior bureaucrat in Ankara. When asked about the resignation, he said, “Forget about the curfew and its implications. That decision was approved by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But this resignation tweet is Coriolanus' nightmare, when the best soldier in your army turns against you.”

Is Erdogan facing a potential rival in Soylu? 

Despite increasing calls from scientists and politicians, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has not agreed to issue a long-term lockdown or curfew but rather has opted for increased daily surveillance and checkpoints. Traveling from Ankara to Istanbul might feel like a war zone as passengers need special travel permits and to clear ID checks as well as health exams that start with a temperature check. The imagery is designed to show Turks that the interior minister is keeping the country safe and secure. 

In his now-deleted resignation tweet, Soylu assumed sole responsibility for the abrupt curfew decision. A day after the resignation, Erdogan applauded Soylu’s sense of responsibility. He went on to explain his reasons for rejecting the resignation: Soylu has been a successful minister in fighting against terror as well as dealing with natural disasters and now the pandemic. And that was the end of story, at least for those who believed that a government official had assumed responsibility and felt compelled to resign.