Page 22 - TURKRptSept19

Ekrem Imamoglu, the opposition politician who this year twice defeated a ruling party candidate as he won and then ‘re-won’ the Istanbul mayorship, has scrapped the transfer of more than Turkish lira (TRY) 350mn ($60.1mn) to some pro-Erdogan administration foundations.
The move is seen as one of Imamoglu’s first actions in defiance of Erdogan since he resoundingly won the late June Istanbul ‘revote’—the contest ordered by election officials after complaints from strongman Erdogan and his Justice and Development (AKP) party that Imamoglu’s triumph in the March 31 local elections was marred by irregularities at polling stations.
When Imamoglu was made mayor it ended a 25-year era during which cultural and commercial capital Istanbul was controlled by the AKP or its predecessor parties, and it also opened up speculation as to whether the victor might eventually prove to be a politician who could dislodge Erdogan from the presidency. There are even said to be machinations within the AKP right now as former Erdogan loyalists ponder whether they can exploit Erdogan’s new vulnerability by forming a new party.
The municipality also annulled protocol agreements it had with five foundations receiving transfers. One of those was the Turkey Youth and Education Service Foundation (TURGEV), which Erdogan founded when he was mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s. Its board includes Erdogan’s daughter, his communication director’s wife, and a former AKP mayor. The Turkish Youth Foundation (TUGVA), the Ensar Foundation, the Aziz Mahmut Hudayi foundation, and the Daru’l Funun Theology foundation were other foundations that had protocol agreements annulled and fund transfers cancelled.
Turkish authorities replaced Kurdish mayors in three southeastern cities with government appointees, citing national security concerns, and detained more than 400 people for suspected militant links. Erdogan has said his government would take similar measures in other parts of the country if need be, prompting concerns officials could even act against CHP mayors. Imamoglu responded that such remarks were “saddening” and meaningless.
“Istanbul is in safe hands. Istanbul is being managed by a mayor who received close to 50% of the votes of Istanbulites,” Imamoglu said.
Those witnessing Erdogan’s “unquenchable thirst for absolute power and total disregard for a rules-based governance” and asking “Will it ever end? And how would it end?” should realise that “after almost nineteen years in power, it is doubtful that Turkey’s president would relinquish power without a fight. Regardless of the consequences for his country.”
That’s the conclusion reached by Marc Pierini, a visiting scholar at Brussels- based European foreign policy analysis think tank Carnegie Europe, in an opinion piece entitled: “Turkey’s Presidential Regime Rests on Zero Rule of Law.”
Pierini writes: “At this juncture in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s political trajectory, there is no reason for him to alter the political system he has so energetically forced upon his party and the entire country.
“Seen from Brussels, the string of political decisions taken by the Turkish regime since 2017 illustrates two fundamental realities. First, that Erdogan has realized that the EU model of governance is a hindrance to his quest for absolute power. (Recurrent statements about the EU aspirations of Turkey therefore have a paper-thin credibility.)
“Second, that he has found comfort in his relationships with strong leaders with worldviews that are in sharp contrast to the established Western, or EU, order: Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and even the United States’ Donald Trump. As long as Erdogan can juggle deals with
22 TURKEY Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com