Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a fixed idea: to become the equal of the greatest sultans, Mehmet the Conqueror and Suleiman the Magnificent.
Flattering the nationalist fiber of his people, he had promised to restore pride to a resurgent Ottoman Empire and to register it among the great powers to be reckoned with.
Failed again!
His tricks have allowed him to rise to power, to cling to it for twenty years and to place his country among the illiberal powers, spoilsport of the world order.
But Turkey is still very far from a “new Ottoman golden age”.
And, supreme humiliation, the despot could be chased out of the ballot box, like a simple Iznogoud, in the general elections of May 14.
Nothing, however, seemed able to dislodge him from power.
He took advantage of the abortive putsch of July 2016 to give free rein to his authoritarian drift, seizing this pretext to carry out major purges within the public service, fill the prisons, muzzle the media and concentrate…
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