Erdogan lost elections in the recent past and he had to give up power in Istanbul. The mayor of Istanbul is basically the Vice President of Turkey in terms of b

Erdogan lost elections in the recent past and he had to give up power in Istanbul. The mayor of Istanbul is basically the Vice President of Turkey in terms of broadcasting power and actual ability to do things on the ground due to the sheer size of Istanbul, and he’s been a major thorn on his side since. I don’t think (I hope) when the time comes, he refuses to leave, that would be a much, much different problem than the ones facing Turkey right now. Re: legitimacy, I’ve been on the losing side of those elections for the last two decades by now. Unfortunately they’re pretty legitimate, he really does have a majority and his majority does not depend on expelling people. Had it been that way, Turkey would make a lot more sense. The core problem with Turkey lie not with legitimacy of elections, or with the consent of the governed, but within the much more subtle distinction between ‘ruling’ and ‘governing’ what is ultimately a very pluralistic society with a vast range of ethnic and sociocultural backgrounds. Doing legitimate elections is one thing, not assuming they mean ultimate power to squash out your opposition like bugs on a windshield is quite another. In terms of social malaise, Turkey is more similar to Hungary or Poland, rather than Russia. Again, it’s a weird country, it doesn’t make sense even to its inhabitants so I try to avoid commenting on it from afar.