Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his candidacy for the presidency with an impressive address to some 4,000 supporters in a large hall in Ankara. He began with a long prayer, followed by a lengthy account of the oppression of Turkey’s religiously conservative masses, whom he ultimately liberated. Erdogan called himself a mere mortal who serves a larger “cause,” whose previous leaders included Selahaddin Eyyubi, the great Islamic commander from the 12th century, and the founders of the Seljuk and Ottoman empires.
The audience enthusiastically applauded and cheered. A song's repetition of “Recep, Tayyip, Erdogan” filled the air, leaving many in tears. At the center of all this attention stood Erdogan, the only basis of authority, the only source of power.