2008 was not good for Erdoğan

For the prime minister, everything started to change with elections on July 27, 2007. Despite the brisk reaction of the military and demonstrations by hundreds of secularists filling the arenas, he had raised his votes to 47 percent which surprised everybody including himself. Entering 2008, he had defeated the military and opposition, and obtained a never-before-seen majority in Parliament. He was in a position where he could do anything. But he was at the same time all by himself.

His closest political friend who calmed him down when he became furious, his mentor next to him, Abdullah Gül, was in Çankaya. Arınç and Şener with whom he went on this journey were no longer there. Erdoğan started 2008 off as Turkey’s strongest and the Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s only man. He made his biggest mistake just in such an environment. While responding to a question in Spain on Jan. 14, he lit the fire for attempting the admittance of the headscarf at universities putting aside the Constitution changes project. He was probably going to regret this step later on, but he was so certain of himself and his party that he thought he even no longer needed the European Union.

Nobody could understand why he made this important strategy change. He knew that he had stepped on a sore spot for the secular portion the society and had opened Pandora’s Box. But he must have said "we have received 47 percent of the votes. Half of the country wants us. If we cannot make our portion of society happy in respect to the headscarf we will never be able to," because he did not change his path. The rest developed in rapid succession. The secularists revolted. Lawsuits were filed at the Constitutional Court first against the headscarf and then for the closure case against the AKP. These developments first spoiled the chemistry of the AKP. Then the country became tense. The Prime Minister’s aggressive side came into prominence. He started to fight with everyone and everything.

There was no longer an Erdoğan who used to listen to his surrounding or who used to benefit from different views É he became "the man." An Erdoğan who does not listen to anyone, but only takes decisions. For this reason he could neither manage constitutional changes nor the headscarf dispute very well. He pursued a policy of ups and downs. Took wrong steps. He could not even figure out the Kurdish problem, although he was applauded by everyone in this matter.

He did not only fail in politics, but also failed in the management of the crises. He did not listen to anyone but himself. He perceived that every criticism hid bad intentions. He looked for a hostile conspiracy behind each warning. If we look at the result, he did not accomplish what he expected. He could neither liberate the headscarf nor get in the way of fraud to which the AKP is vulnerable.

But, there were achievements as well
Erdoğan closed the year 2008 as a leader of a party that is tired of administration and more and more wearing down. If he would not have been in such a hurry he would have solved the headscarf problem without any tension but he could not see this fact.

2008 did not only bring bad grades for the prime minister. One also needs to mention his achievements. Erdoğan’s good grades appeared especially in the field of foreign policy. At the forefront is the fact that he straightened relations with Washington and provided an information outflow of northern Iraq regarding the fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

He took very important steps by convincing the White House and by coming to a consensus with the general staff regarding peace with Kurds in northern Iraq.

The rapprochement between Turkey and Barzani has taken place because of Erdoğan’s general attitude. He soon understood that the PKK could not be banned from the region without northern Iraq’s support. He knew how to build relations with Iran on "trust." He established this equilibrium without experiencing any reaction from the West camp. He told Iraq not to enter into a nuclear power position and also told the United States that it would not achieve anything by abusing Iran.

He mediated between Syria and Israel regarding peace negotiations. He even received applause from French President Sarkozy for providing Damascus’s continuation of these negotiations.

Regarding Lebanon’s inner crises, Erdoğan was again on the stage and attracted international attention. Regarding the Russian and Georgian war, Erdoğan again took place upfront. He was among the leaders that Moscow and Tbilisi listened to.

The step that he took in the Armenian issue was probably one of the most important gestures of the past years, not only 2008. Even though President Gül was the one to take that step, the invoice was made out to the leader of the administration. Thus, by courtesy of this step, Turkey was able to be more easily elected to the temporary membership to the U.N. Security Council.

Regarding the EU issue, Erdoğan failed the class. He forgot about reforms and despite all his verbal promises, he did not set the EU project in motion.

Achievements within
Erdoğan surely has accomplished achievements in 2008 looking from his own perspective but two most important steps in the eye of the public are his meeting with the General Staff Gen. Büyükanıt and Erdoğan creating his own media. By means of these two developments there has been a relatively more relaxed administration especially in the second half of 2008.

In summary, Erdoğan as a leader collected more applause abroad. He has put Turkey in a position where the country shows more interest in the region and spends as much effort and time in developments in the region as it spends for the West. Chaos and tension has turned into applause abroad.