Aral BalkanMay 29, 2023

What’s happening in Turkey today is not some exotic oddity. It’s a forewarning of exactly what can (and is) happening in the West.

Does this timeline seem familiar?

1. Neoliberals get elected. They fill their coffers while alienating a whole swath of society who they deem too far beneath them to matter.

2. A religious fundamentalist arises who speaks to those marginalised people, telling them they’ve been wronged (they have) and that he will make it right.

3. He gets elected.

4. He stays.

Show threadCogito Ergo DisputoMay 29, 2023
@aral hmmm... did the people in power before Erdogan, who has been in power himself for 20 years, actually classify as neo-liberals? And what were the Turks tired of? Economical growth? Your analysis seems a bit simplistic to me. Could the grip Erdogan has over every aspect of people's lives, namely the press, education, the courts, and so on, be a more plausible explanation?
Show threaddog and the plateMay 29, 2023
@Disputatore @aral It depends. But privaisation has been a key feature in this country after 1980 coup, and it did not actually stop with the rise of Erdoğan. What the "Turks" and Kurds who voted for Erdoğan was tired of was the hyperinflation caused by economic crisis and/related to mishandling of Great Istanbul Earthquake in the early 00s. Erdoğan was an underdog before 2002.
Show threadCogito Ergo DisputoMay 29, 2023
@livinghell @aral so would you agree with the claim that neo-liberal policies before Erdoğan are the justification for his endurance in power and his last re-election?
Show threaddog and the plateMay 29, 2023
@Disputatore @aral Yes actually. Its too complex to get into here. But people who were left behind felt the devatating force of economic austerity. It goes way back too, the solitude of people caused by general violence but by especially economical collapse caused people to form an emotional connection to their "saviour". It largely still lasts, and this is why Erdoğan cant get the younger voters. Around the turn of the century, almost every political got disgraced while people lost their livelihood and finances. Erdoğan was there to sell himself as a savoiur and as a father figure.
Show threadCogito Ergo DisputoMay 29, 2023
@livinghell @aral so, those disfranchised people are better now than they were before? And were the policies neo-liberal then but they aren't now? And were the results bad because of neo-liberalism or simply because of poor governance and corruption?
Show threaddog and the plateMay 29, 2023

@Disputatore @aral They gor marginally better between 2002 - circa 2012, during Erdoğan gov. Then it got nose dive again, but last three years we are again approachig 2002 levels. Erdoğan keeps the hold of the government because of all the social capital he accumulated during those years. Also, as you said, he controls most of the media.

Results of those policy decisions was bad, simoly because they privatised most of the public utilities. I ll give an example. Today, de facto, education is not a public right in Turkey. State schools are all underfunded and a huge portion of them are converted to religious education schools. Neither secular nor religious high schools, except a couple, has any chance of getting you into a good university no matter the level of the student. For profit study centers are everywhere. So, Islamic sects grew who give cheap or free extra education. One of them was Gülen's. They even stole exam results etc. People were left behind by neoliberalism, they turned to islamic "tribalism" (ideological nepotism, really.) and corruption. And this last is tied to our current fascism.

Show threadCogito Ergo Disputo
@livinghell @aral all of that is very interesting. As you described, Erdoğan's education politics are, in fact, capping most people's growth potential. He also continued with the privatisation of public companies. And he threw people into the hands of religious sects which, in turn, most probably support his government, helping to keep him in power.
May 29, 2023 at 4:48pmWeb