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Perhaps as a way of justifying his own sense of grandeur, he has tried to teach Turks to revere the achievements of the Ottoman Empire and its six centuries of rule, which ended in 1922. “We were born and raised on the land that is the legacy of the Ottoman Empire,” he likes to say. For a while, his Ottoman-like ambitions seemed to be making Turkey dominant in the region. Ahmet Davutoglu, now Erdogan’s chosen successor as prime minister, said when he was foreign minister that Turkey was becoming “master, leader and servant” of the Middle East.

In the course of renewing the low-ranked education system, Erdogan has directed schools to teach the old Ottoman version of Turkish, written in Arabic script. Since it was Atatürk who brought in the Latin alphabet, that’s another rejection of Atatürk modernity. With that earlier decision, Erdogan says, “Our jugular vein was ripped.”

Erdogan wants classes in Islam for first-graders who are Muslim. He expects that the education department will rewrite history textbooks, giving an account of the Atatürk era reflecting Erdogan’s views. A dedicated Muslim, he reassures educators by saying “We are members of a religion whose first order is learning.”

He’s a prickly leader, quick to take offence. But he also sees himself as the fatherly guide to 21st-century Turks. In 2013 his government put through a law banning alcohol in public places between 10 p..m and 6 a.m. He explained he hoped to save new generations “from such un-Islamic habits.” Davutoglu has called for restoring “ancient values” that were lost when a modern identity was “thrust upon us.”