Analysis: Turkey lost between Erdogan’s ‘Caliphate’, Europe

CAIRO – 26 December 2017: The idea of recreating an “Islamic Caliphate” in Turkey reflects a great contradiction in the state. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s Justice and Development Party (AKP) was accused in the Constitutional Court of having a hidden agenda to turn Turkey into an Islamic state in 2008.

Erdogan’s dream of re-establishing the Ottoman Empire and an Islamic caliphate pushed him to seize more powers than any Turkish ruler has in recent history.

Erdogan’s dream to join the European Union exposed his contradictory positions. During Erdogan’s era as prime minister and president, Turkey has witnessed an increase in the prostitution rate.

Erdogan’s contradictory actions

In July 2016, Erdogan promised to pave the way for Syrian refugees to have Turkish nationality, but his actions contradicted his words.

An Egyptian proverb says, "I like your words when I hear them, but I am surprised by your actions." That proverb liberally describes the actions of "Sultan" Erdogan.

Adultery in Turkey

According the BBC, in 2010 at a conference of women’s organizations, Erdogan made it crystal clear that he does “not believe in equality between men and women,” and that “women's destiny was divinely foreordained.”

Some reports indicate that the number of women engaged in prostitution has increased by 1,680% during the period of the AKP. Prostitution is practiced in Turkey in accordance with article 227 of Law No. 5237, which allows prostitution and the opening of brothels, with over 300,000 people working in the field.

Eight European countries have legalized the practice of prostitution. The issue is not about the legality of prostitution in Turkey; the issue is Erdogan’s contradictory actions.

The European Union had required Turkey to incorporate a new penal code into law that reinforces women's rights, bans "honor killings" and increases penalties for torture and rape in order to satisfy its standards on human rights.

“Honor killing” is used to describe the killing of a woman by her family for bringing what they perceive as dishonor on the family. In June 2008, a report by the Turkish Prime Ministry's Human Rights Directorate said that in Istanbul alone there was one honor killing every week.

Ottoman Empire Dream?

To build a new Ottoman Empire, Erdogan has utilized the Muslim Brotherhood, which seeks to establish a new Islamic caliphate, and he has reached out to various Arab countries and developed prosperous relations with them, such as with Qatar.

Turkey has now become another Iran – taking advantage of religious influence to interfere in the internal affairs of Arab countries.

The foreign policy of the AKP government used during the Arab Spring forced a lot of Arab states to change their opinion on the Turkish government and regard it as a force that tries to impose its influence and dominance over the region and not as a partner that exchanges interests, as it had previously been regarded.