Mehmet Yilmaz : Erdogan all alone on the political wrestling mat

"Leaders come and go, what is important is service. Even Cuban leader Fidel Castro has now left office. But I am alone on the 'wrestling mat' now in Turkey. That is my problem. When I was younger, I used to do some wrestling. When national team wrestlers train, they work with wrestlers in higher weight categories, gaining strength and durability in doing so. But I don't have this opportunity. I am alone on the 'wrestling mat.'"

 

I do not usually agree with the Prime Minister on many topics, but this time, I am in full accord. And I think this is Turkey's real problem right now. We could call this the "leaders who are all alone on the political wrestling mat" syndrome. The Prime Minister complains about this situation, but the truth is, he should be at the top of the list of people who are happy about this situation.      Â

 

And if the opposition CHP Party had in our last elections brought forth a leader who was able to appear sympathetic to the people of Turkey, who was able say new things, or get merchants, the unemployed, and the poor to look ahead with hope, then Prime Minister Erdogan might not now be "all alone" on this political wrestling mat.    Â

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And more importantly, we would not be experiencing the regime debates that we are today, because the Turkish Parliament (TBMM) would not present the imbalanced tableau it does today.

 

What disrupts the balance in politics is when people in political parties gain power but then refuse to leave their positions later, stubbornly holding onto that power until they are finally completely eliminated from the political scene. This scenarios explains much about why both the DYP and the ANAVATAN parties are nowhere to be seen on the Turkish political spectrum these days. And why the MHP has caught onto the tail of the ruling AKP, refusing to let go. And most of all, why the opposition CHP, despite the five years it has passed now in opposition stance, is not growing or strengthening at all!

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And you will see that, in the end, this same fate lies in store for Recep Tayyip Erdogan!