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Erdogan always had strong support from Turkish expatriates. I had always heard this explained as fundamentalists leaving Turkey because its secular laws were mo
by pluma 10y ago
Erdogan always had strong support from Turkish expatriates. I had always heard this explained as fundamentalists leaving Turkey because its secular laws were more restrictive (e.g. headscarfs are banned in universities[0] because of the strong separation of church and state) and Erdogan catering towards those fundamentalists.
I don't know what changed in Turkey but it now seems that his support has grown not only outside the country but also within and he seems to be hellbent on exploiting religion to gain political support. I don't know whether he actually holds fundamentalist views himself but he certainly knows how to use them to his advantage.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headscarf_controversy_in_Turkey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headscarf_controversy_in_Turke...
- finid 10y ago> I don't know whether he actually holds fundamentalist views himself... He does, actually. Google what he said about women.
- pluma 10y agoYou don't need to believe in religion to be a chauvinist, though.
- creshal 10y agoAnd don't need to believe in anything to publicly support positions you think will get you votes.
- gkya 10y agoToday's Turkey is the glory of "populism".
- finid 10y agoI agree, but his fundamentalist religious views are well-documented. The only difference between him and the Saudis is he does not wear funny outfits
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- chappi42 10y agoI don't find a good link for the following statement but I saw it mentioned a few times lately and it seems that Erdogan was banished from political life because of it. At a conference in 1998, Erdogan quoted from an Islamic poem: "Democracy is just the train we board to reach our destination. The mosques are our barracks, the minarets our bayonets, the cupolas our helmets and the faithful our soldiers."
- Kareeeeem 10y ago> Erdogan always had strong support from Turkish expatriates. I had always heard this explained as fundamentalists leaving Turkey because its secular laws were more restrictive Wanting to practice your religion in it's most basic form makes one a fundamentalist?
- adrianratnapala 10y agoActually I always thought that is what "fundamentalist" meant. But I never thought of fundemantalism as a bad thing in itself. (Actual bad things are along the lines "militant" and beyond).
- usrusr 10y ago> I had always heard this explained as fundamentalists leaving Turkey because its secular laws were more restrictive Not so much fundamentalists fleeing from secularism, but people emigrating from the poorest backwater parts of the country, where, coincidence or not, both religious traditions and AKP are much stronger than in well-educated urban regions.