The AK Party, ahead of all parties but behind itself

First of all, being able to win a 53.3 percent majority in the 25th year of its municipal administrations and the 17th year of its government is regarded as a great political miracle. But when compared with both the leader Erdoğan's still vibrant charisma, his extremely active and successful leadership, and the successes he has shown in Turkey during this period in government, one expects the return to be much greater.

On top of this, when one adds the role Turkey plays in the present international conjuncture and the national sensitivities that need to be mobilized against the attacks it is subjected to in return for this role, even if the vote the AK Parti received in these elections continues to make it the first party by a wide margin over its rivals, what it deserved was definitely more than this. That is, the votes received should be compared not with others' but with what they themselves deserve.

Then the analysis of these elections must also be evaluated in light of this question: What prevented the AK Parti from receiving more of the votes it deserves?

Note that the AK Parti is the only party in the history of the Republic of Turkey to have preserved, consecutively and for this long, a continuity of votes at this level. After all, it is a party that more than one in every two people continue to support. Despite this, it is also a party about which complaints about it, about the candidates, about its rhetoric, about some of its recent practices, about the fatigue of its organizations and their distancing from the people have now begun to spread.

No one can say that all of these rumors are empty and based on the rival parties' propaganda. That a serious routinization of charisma or entropy of asabiyya is being experienced is an indisputable truth. "Entropy of asabiyya" is a process in which people are no longer motivated by their values but by protecting their material gains, that is, a process in which they become thoroughly conservative politically. The spirit and motivation peculiar to charismatic periods, in which sacrifice for certain values is in the foreground, is replaced by a conservatism in which people devote themselves to protecting their material gains, and this permeates all political behavior or ethics.

The leader's charisma is still in place, fresh and alive. But those who follow him have by now fallen into the haste of benefiting from that charisma rather than believing in it.

In fact, perhaps the competition between those who believe in that charisma and those who try to exploit that charisma has begun to tip in favor of the latter. Because the latter are always more skillful, more ambitious and more insistent, and more steady in pursuit, recognizing no ethical rule until they obtain what they want.

Unfortunately, a very widespread observation in recent times says that those quite far from the party's mentality or personality profile have somehow shown greater success, both in candidacy contests and in occupying the key positions in the AK Parti's local government cadres. Of course there is a contest and an examination in that field too, and in those examinations there are possible ways such as stealing the questions and fixing the evaluators. These ways, which those who would never consider them fitting for the AK Parti never think of or resort to, are unfortunately wide open for those with no ethical values.

In the end, it is possible, though of course not necessary, for politics always to make Platos, the sages in pursuit of virtuous governance, live a kind of "tragedy of the return from Syracuse." The most striking examples that neither a problem such as the Kurdish question nor any other factor can prevent the AK Parti from meeting with the people where there is harmony of party philosophy, candidate, organization, and political representation were displayed, for example, in Şırnak, Bitlis and Ağrı. There is great benefit in watching these examples carefully.

If we look to Ibn Khaldun or Max Weber, it is inevitable that these periods are lived through in succession like this. But Ibn Khaldun says that with good government the period of wise asabiyya can be prolonged and turned into a very beneficial rashid rule. Provided only that the course can be seen from a historical perspective and the necessary measures can be taken.

My book titled "Times of Charisma," which I wrote as a reading of Turkish politics from 28 February onward, was in one respect a sociological analysis of the political charisma of Erdoğan in the days when he was still mayor and in prison, but while writing it I did not neglect to add these sentences:

"Beyond being a harbinger-bearing analysis, Times of Charisma is a cautionary text for those who live through times of charisma. Whatever some sociologists may say, charisma is a very great advantage, a great blessing for a country, a nation, but when its value is not appreciated and it is not put to good use, it remains a period whose routinization or exhaustion is fated."

When Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the Istanbul Metropolitan mayoralty in 1994 with a vote of around 25 percent, a great success story and the rise of a charisma were being spoken of. Yet today, when that same Metropolitan municipality, despite the quarter century that has passed, despite the possibility of wearing down in government, is lost with 48.6 percent of the vote and by a vote difference of only 1 per thousand against a bloc in which all of its rivals have united, some people have long since begun to cling with both hands to the story of "Erdoğan's fall." Yet the result is not yet clear. At any moment Binali Yıldırım, under Erdoğan's leadership, may win the election by a vote difference of 1 per thousand, and all the commentary may be written again anew and in a different direction.

Whatever happens, Erdoğan's still extraordinarily continuing charismatic leadership, his effort beyond human endurance, his sincerity and love deserve much more. The return for the services he has rendered to Istanbul, for the love he feels toward Istanbul and its people, should be much greater, even if he wins this election by a 1 per thousand vote difference.

One needs to look much better, much more carefully, at what prevents these services, this charisma, this love from meeting with appreciation in return.

This song must not end here; it must continue for a very long time with more beautiful melodies. Even if we are not sufficiently aware of it, the oppressed world expects a great deal from us.