Insight / Farrag Ismail: Meeting the unknown Sheikh Erdogan

By FARRAG ISMAIL

Al Arabiya

When I met Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 1994 in his office, he was the mayor of Istanbul. Along one whole hour during which I stayed with him, in the presence of the Turkish Islamist Sheikh Saleh Uzgan—who was at the time the president of Faisal Ismalic Bank in Turkey—, I haven’t felt that he might one day become the founder of a political party that would later become the “forbidden love” dreamt of by the Arabs in the aftermath of their Spring revolutions.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), Farrag Ismail (C) and Turkish Islamist Sheikh Saleh Uzgan.

The editor-in-chief of the newspaper that I worked in at the time did not like the big area that I had dedicated for the interview. He thought that it was too large for him—as an unknown person—despite his post at that time. I had to shorten it. Neither I nor he had the slightest idea that he would turn out to become Turkey’s star, who will become the winner—for the third time—of the latest legislative elections.

Erdogan became the beloved star of the Arabs, especially the Islamists eyeing authority. He has become a good model for the Islamist movements that started to give up—or already gave up—their strictness and stands towards democracy and ballot boxes.

At that time, Sheikh Saleh Uzgan told me that Mr. “Erdodan will excel over his own mentor—the late leader of Al Rafah Party Najm Al Din Arabakan,” and that it was best for me “to get acquainted with his thoughts.” However, I never imagined that his prophesy would be accomplished that much.

As much as thousands of Arabs sit in front of the TV satellite channels awaiting the Turkish soap opera “The Forbidden Love,” they similarly awaited last Sunday, June 12, for the results of the legislative election in which the Justice and Development Party (AKP)—led by Erdogan—was declared the winner.

That man who has Brotherhood roots and his party—that was not founded long ago—is now seen as the dreamt-of regime expected by Egypt for example.

Even the Coptic billionaire Naguib Sawiris—the founder of Free Egyptians Party after the January 25 Revolution—revealed that he said to himself “this is the Islam that we want in Egypt” when he visited Turkey and was impressed by its renaissance.

Mr. Erdogan is aware of this impression and that’s why he included the Arab world in his speech following the winning of his party: “The victory belongs to Istanbul and Jerusalem, to Ankara and Syria, to Izmir and Beirut, to Bursa and Baghdad, to Diar Baker, Ramallah, Jenin, Bethlehem, Gaza and all the neighboring countries.”

A two thirds majority (367 seats) enables the AKP to demand laying the new constitution, but it did not get that number of seats. Its seats retreated—despite its sounding popularity—by 49.9% to around 326 seats, which is less than the 341 seats that it had in the previous parliament.

It is widely believed that such retreat is due to the coalitions—especially between the opposition Republican People’s Party and the Kurds—but some think that it is a kind of smartness to achieve a kind of balance among the political powers, because the new constitution is a matter of destiny that shouldn’t be controlled by one party only, regardless of its big popularity.

Thus, Mr. Erdogan would be in need of concurrence with other parties in the parliament, which is possible, especially that the Republican People’s Party—which is the main opposition that won 25.99%—had included this suggestion in its election campaign.

Some people think that the AKP aims at getting rid of secularism in the suggested new constitution, which has been also underlined in the election campaign of the opposition parties, but this is not true. During his previous term, his party set up a draft that does not approach the secular system—approved by all the Turkish powers—but its main target is the liabilities granted within the framework of the current constitution to legislative associations, judiciary system, army and education. That is what the AKP wants to get rid of.

Mr. Erdogan was born on February 26, 1954, in Qassim Pasha Neighborhood—the poorest in Istanbul—and he was nicknamed ‘Sheikh Recep’ during his elementary education because he refused to lead his colleagues in the prayers over a newspaper that contained photos of women.

He graduated at the “Imam Khatib” school, which was the most famous Islamic education school in Turkey. After his successful graduation from high school, he joined the Ministry of Economics in Marmara University. He also spent around 10 years playing football at a sporting club.

When the Islamist Fadeela (Virtue) Party was dissolved and divided into two parts: a conservative part and a youthful part led by Mr. Erdogan and the current Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who later founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001.

He is married to Mrs. Ameena, who is of Arab origin, and who was a member of the National Islamist Salamat Party. Both of them formed a marvelous Islamist “duet.”

He named his son Najm Al Din, after the name of his mentor Najm Al Din Arbakan. As for his daughter Sumaya, she got her education in the United States because she was not permitted to study in Turkey due to her Islamic hijab (veil.)

(Farrag Ismail is the Editorial Manager of AlArabiya.net, he can be reached at: farrag.ismail@mbc.net)

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