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Erdogan Opts for War

Why does Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan opt for confrontation rather than reconciliation?
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters in Ankara June 9, 2013. Erdogan stands before a sea of cheering faithful waving Turkish flags and, to shouts of "Allahu Akbar", God is Greatest, summons the spirit of pious Ottoman poets in denouncing protesters who challenge his power. Across Istanbul, the same flags, white crescent moon and star on a red background, are raised; but they proclaim what some Erdogan critics see as a different kind of Turkey. Riots and protests have highlighted a

Since the beginning of the mass protests against the Turkish government some 12 days ago, all Turkish statesmen who spoke on the topic made conciliatory statements — from President Abdullah Gül to İstanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş, from Vice Prime Minister Bülent Arinç to İstanbul governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu. However, at the end, all of their softening messages were swept aside by a very notable exception: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Since his return to Turkey from North Africa on the night of Thursday, June 6, Erdoğan has made at least half a dozen public speeches to cheerful audiences, which are made up of his core supporters. In all of them, he was defiant, uncompromising, and often heated.  He promised that he would move on with this controversial Taksim project, and kept on condemning the “looters” in the streets who opposed it. (He had a point; some protesters really engaged in vandalism, but Erdoğan’s willing inability to see the peaceful unrest only heightens the tension.) He also condemned the “interest (usury) lobby” and “those who want to halt Turkey’s progress” — mythical forces that Erdoğan and his cadre blame for orchestrating the protests in the streets.

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