In the streets of Istanbul, the protest rumbles. The arrest of the mayor Ekrem Imamoglu caused a popular uprising of an unprecedented magnitude since the Gezi demonstrations in 2013. Friday March 21, the Turkish opposition summoned a “night of democracy”, calling for a large rally to which flooded more than 100,000 people, despite the warnings of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a climate of extreme tension, demonstrators chanted: “Don’t be silent, otherwise it will soon be your turn!” »» While signs proclaimed: “Don’t be afraid, the people are there. »»
Faced with courageous demonstrators, power reacted in a particularly authoritarian way: two bridges and several major axes leading to the town hall were closed, while calls to demonstrate multiplied in more than 45 cities in the country. In Istanbul, a whole people aspire to democracy that rises. How not to support these men and women who, at the risk of their freedom, claim justice and respect for democratic principles?
The democratic decline of Turkey does not date from yesterday. Since his accession to power in 2003, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has continued to weaken the counterpowers, to muzzle the press and to dismiss his opponents. If, at his beginnings, he tried to get closer to Europe, he gradually moved away from it, preferring to register in a logic of confrontation and withdrawal identity.
“His interventionism in Libya for example, is part of an expansionist logic”
Today, Erdogan does not only threaten his own people when he aspires to emancipation, he also represents a threat to Europe. He instrumentalizes his nationals installed in Germany, in France and elsewhere, by mobilizing them as a political force acquired in his cause. Like the Algerian regime, he uses this diaspora to weigh on European policy, thus nourishing an unhealthy balance of power which weakens European nations from the inside.
It has to stop. It is unthinkable that a leader can, with impunity, manipulate European citizens to better establish his power and extend his influence. His imperialist dream is no longer in doubt. Like Vladimir Putin who wants to restore “great Russia”, Erdogan aspires to recreate the Ottoman power. His obsession with linking Islam to his country is brilliant proof. The most symbolic example is the transformation of Sainte-Sophie into a mosque, thus erasing the secular heritage of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which had made it a museum in 1934, offered to humanity. It is not only a religious change, but a political reinterpretation of the past which aims to glorify the Ottoman Empire and to erase the liberal reforms of the Turkish Republic.
Purges that intensify
Erdogan does not hide his ambitions. His interventionism in Libya for example, is part of an expansionist logic. His contempt for the Kurds, his fierce repression against the opposition, his disproportionate presidential palace – four times larger than Versailles – everything contributes to painting a portrait of a leader drunk with power, whose repression threatens both his country and the regional balance. Today, the purges are intensifying: soldiers, teachers, students, journalists, deputies, no one is spared. But Erdogan vacillates: the polls are down and the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara gain popularity.
The purpose of the one who dreams of himself in the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire has been clear for a long time. Already in 1998, he quoted these words taken from a nationalist poem: “The minarets will be our bayonets, the domes our helmets, the mosques will be our barracks and the believers our soldiers. »» This vision, both bellicose and theocratic, still guides its action today.
Faced with this threat, our support for Turkish Democrats must be flawless. The future of Turkey and that of Europe are more linked than you want to believe it. The future of Europe is thus based on its ability to ensure its own security and respond to the threats to it. While the debate on European defense reappears in the context of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it is imperative not to limit this reflection to the east of Europe. The fragility of the union does not reside only in its eastern border, but also in the growing influence of authoritarian powers which seek to instrumentalize the faults of the old continent.
The Turkish president, by his troubled play with Russia, his contempt for democratic principles and his use of diasporas as a lever of influence, constitutes a factor of instability. Ultimately, he could establish himself as an opponent of Europe and its values. In order not to undergo, we must now accelerate the construction of a united and credible European defense. This implies federating the continent’s armed forces, strengthening our strategic autonomy and investing massively in our military capacities. This project, decisive for the future of Europe, must be carried with determination by France and our European partners. Because history has taught us: peace and freedom are only preserved by force and political will.
