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This article was originally written for Türkiye Today’s weekly newsletter, Saturday's Wrap-up, in its November 1 issue. Please make sure you are subscribed to the newsletter by clicking here.
When a German reporter asked President Erdogan about the imprisoned Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s case during a press conference with German Chancellor Merz on Oct. 30, everyone held their breath, wondering how he would respond. He has not faced such a direct question very often since Imamoglu’s detention, especially from the Turkish press.
Given Erdogan’s past confrontations with foreign reporters, many expected a ballistic response. Instead, he smiled and said that nobody is untouchable under Turkish law, regardless of their rank or office. Then, he shifted the focus to the illegal betting probe against hundreds of referees in Turkish football, saying that the public welcomed such anti-corruption investigations.
I wonder what Chancellor Merz thought about the football comparison, which may have sounded absurd to his German mind. Had Erdogan been in a confrontational mood, he might have blasted the Germans for staying silent in the face of genocide due to historical guilt, while focusing on the internal matters of other sovereign countries. Or, more pointedly, he could have brought up the legal hurdles and challenges faced by the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) in Germany, noting that many of the major cases against them emerged when they became the second most popular party in the country.
Despite his measured response, Erdogan seemed to ignore the gravity of the question. The reason is that he is very well aware of Western countries’ disinterest in Türkiye’s internal matters due to geopolitical tensions and the need for Türkiye’s defense and political capabilities. Trump’s America is a factor as well, as the U.S. stopped criticizing other countries over their domestic politics.
Türkiye’s ability to come up with quick solutions and its reach across various geographies as a NATO member are major advantages for the West, especially for continental Europe, as some have nightmares fearing Putin’s tanks rolling through their streets. If the Bayraktars had not performed well in Ukraine in 2022, what kind of situation would the West be in? I will save that for another brainstorming session.
As for current geopolitics—do you remember 10 ambassadors releasing a joint statement on the Osman Kavala case in 2021? Erdogan then threatened to declare the ambassadors persona non grata, a decision he never implemented.
Such a joint statement on a court case in Türkiye would be unimaginable in today’s geopolitics, and Erdogan clearly enjoys that. He no longer wants international attention on Türkiye’s domestic issues as in the past. You might think this is because he wants to act freely in Türkiye, without the burden of international condemnation. However, I believe his thinking is that Westerners usually—and sometimes intentionally—misunderstand the dynamics in Türkiye due to their ideological positioning. Don’t forget that Erdogan had a hard time convincing the West that July 15 was an actual coup attempt against a civilian government, despite all the proof Türkiye had—including F-16s bombing the Turkish Parliament.
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