Erdogan must hold steady

IN MAKING a purely political assessment, it would be difficult to ignore the stranglehold that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has on Turkey’s administrative system — winning his ninth straight popular vote to become the first directly elected president of his country.

Erdogan has made mention of traversing the path of reconciliation, but these soundbites are meant to temper the nerves of the people and fellow politicians. His true game plan is yet to be showcased and the coming months will reveal his longterm ambitions for his country.

Erdogan’s style of governance is authoritarian. He equates his will with that of the people. He must be mindful not to polarise Turkey, internally and externally, given that he has a significant role to play in the crisis engulfing the Middle East. Turkey must be allowed to recover from the events that have occurred in the recent past, which have stained Erdogan’s administration. He must use his new office as a platform to be more inclusive in his approach, and enhance Turkey’s regional role and its status as a business powerhouse that straddles Asia and Europe.

The economy is on a sound footing as per capita income has almost tripled in dollar terms during his tenure. He must now simply stay the course of durable governance and desist from making sharp policy deviations. Dubai, August 14