By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- TRT World’s Strait Talk interviewed three analysts about the election results in Turkiye and whyTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has major sway with the Turkish populace. A former U.S. ambassador, Matthew Bryza said that in this historic election that what really mattered was about “how vigorously” the Turkish population got involved in the elections, adding that they were “free elections.” European Affairs Analyst Klaus Jurgens pointed to the Turkish people as the ones who chose Erdogan, as Jurgens commented: “The people have spoken and they united behind their much-cherished leader.” He said the reason Turks rallied behind Erdogan because he keeps his commitments and he said: “I’m positively not surprised, I was almost expecting this result.”
Meanwhile, Political Analyst Necdet Ozcelik said: “The people in the affected area believe the problems can be solved only by Erdogan.” Ozcelik explained that the problem the opposition candidate and CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu had, was that his team didn’t demonstrate they were prepared to take responsibility. Byrza echoed that sentiment when he said that a plus for Erdogan was keeping his promise to provide housing for the populace in quake-hit southeastern Turkiye. He added: “The Turkish people are very nationalistic” and he said Kilicdaroglu “came to the nationalistic game too late.” Jurgens expressed his disappointment in the influence of the Western and European media that consistently pushed Turks to vote with the opposition. Jurgens emphasized that was precisely what made many Turks abroad, go the polls for Erdogan. Ozcelik said: “The security policy has played an important role for Erdogan in the elections.”
Ozcelik added that one factor in votes going Erdogan’s way is that “He has followed a stable policy in dealing with terrorist organizations.” What hurt Kilicdaroglu, Ozcelik mentioned, was his “anti-immigrant stance” which he said “worked against him. Byrza said: “I wouldn’t have imagined there wouldn’t have been big changes in foreign policy.” Jurgens said that now, “it will be Turkiye’s turn to ask the EU what it will do for Turkiye,” adding that “Turkiye is no longer the kid that needs a pat on the back.” He cautioned that EU leaders need to take a step back and really see who Turkiye is in the 21st century especially in terms of what Turkiye has to offer in the business and trade sector – specifically in the technology sector.
