Many are betting on the measures that President Erdogan will take to counter the subsequent attacks by his enemies since he has all the power tools except for the votes, surveys have shown that most of them are tired of Erdogan’s domestic and foreign policies.

The AKP last week marked its 18th anniversary but without any official or popular celebration. The political circles explained this by the demoralized morale of the party leaders and cadres after the polls estimated the popularity of the parties that will soon be formed by former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and former Economy Minister Ali Babacan at 4-5 percent for the first and 8-9 percent for the second.

If true, these predictions will mark the beginning of the inevitable end of the AKP and its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is ruling Turkey for 17 years.

This also explains the video distributed by the party and tells the history of its struggle which former President Abdullah Gul and Ali Babacan did not appear in, and the two are the party’s most important founders, even before Erdogan, who was banned from politics in 2001.

The video also ignored former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Erdogan has accused them of “treason and conspiracy against him” and said: “They will pay dearly.”

The response (to Erdogan’s accusations) came from the opposition which said: “Erdogan should remember how he conspired against his leader, Necmettin Erbakan,” and stabbed him from the back when he and his comrades split in 2000 from the Islamic Virtue Party and founded the AK. The party won the November 2002 election after gaining 34 percent of the vote to control 66 percent of the seats in parliament because of the election law.

Erdogan forgot how Gul who became prime minister succeeded in persuading the CHP to the constitutional amendment which lifted the ban on Erdogan who then became prime minister on 9 March 2003, this time sources close to Babacan are saying, and since then, he has ruled the country alone without any opposition from Gul or any of the party’s founders, all of whom Erdogan got rid of.

In April 2017, Erdogan changed the political system from parliamentary to presidential to become the absolute ruler of the country after having fully controlled all the organs and facilities of the state, the most important of which are the army, intelligence, security, finance, and the judiciary. This was enough to eradicate democracy and put hundreds of journalists, politicians, academics, lawyers, doctors, and intellectuals in prison amid the absence of a European reaction to all this.

This was enough to eradicate democracy and put hundreds of journalists, politicians, academics, lawyers, doctors, and intellectuals in prison amid the absence of a European reaction to all this.

Gul and later Davutoglu did not hide their concern about this approach, reflecting the position of the popular street, which was expressed in the municipal elections at the end of March and on June 23rd. The opposition has won 31 important provinces including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Antalya, which account for 60 percent of Turkey’s population, 70 percent of its economy, 80 percent of its culture and 90 percent of its tourism.

These results were reason enough to talk early about the future of the party. Its fate will be decided by its early founders, notably Gul and his colleagues where they held Erdogan responsible for all of Turkey’s internal and external problems.

However, many are betting on the measures that President Erdogan will take to counter the subsequent attacks by his enemies since he has all the power tools except for the votes, surveys have shown that most of them are tired of Erdogan’s domestic and foreign policies.

These policies have created serious economic and financial problems, while the ideological (Muslim) ‘Brotherhood’ approach of Erdogan’s policies in Syria and the Arab Spring, in general, was enough to get Turkey into serious problems even in Libya. The political circles here draw many scenarios for the future of the AK party and Turkey. They all have to do with Erdogan’s success or failure in foreign policy, especially in Syria, and the implications on the strategic relationship with America, the greatest ally in 70 years.

This could explain the sudden US-Turkish “love” in regards to the eastern Euphrates region, despite the absolute US support for the Kurds of Syria, Erdogan’s enemies, it is clear that he is preparing for his tripartite summit with Putin and Rouhani on 11th of next month.

His agreement or disagreement with them will put Erdogan before the most important and perhaps the last of his challenges, which will carry an inevitable end or a new beginning, as long as he is willing to sacrifice everything to stay in power and get rid of the comrades of yesterday’s enemies today. Their feeling is mutual with Erdogan and he is now in an unenviable situation and his salvation needs more than a miracle!

The above article written in Arabic for Al Mayadeen Lebanese news channel by prominent Turkish journalist Husni Mahalli (Hüsnü Mahalli) – appeared today 18 August 2019.

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