Manifesto of Entry into Politics (Al-Fatiha)

"Praise be to God. The Owner of dominion, the Owner of victory is God. Praise be to God, who has brought this cause, this struggle to these days.

May God be pleased with each and every brother who has carried the banner of this cause. Make our feet firm upon righteousness.

O Lord, nothing stirs without Your permission. Make our good deeds easy for us.

Protect us from arrogance, from envy. Protect us from injustice. Protect our family, our companions on the road."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began the speech he delivered after his candidacy for the Presidency was announced with these words.

He also ended his long speech with the Surah al-Fatiha, which should contain the basic philosophy of a Muslim's life.

Al-Fatiha is, without doubt, a preface to the book that is the guide of life for Muslims. It is the essence of a Muslim's philosophy of life. Nothing could have better expressed that, as opposed to those who do politics for their personal careers or for the limited interests of a certain race or group, he does it for something far more "valuable." Both this introduction and the Fatiha, and the speech as a whole, became a manifesto that most clearly shows on what firm foundations Erdoğan has conducted his politics up to now.

There is no doubt that this politics is not a style of politics Turkey is familiar with. And this philosophy is one that it is hard for a person to believe could be real when merely uttered in words.

If one began with these words alone, one might be perceived as someone swept away by the wind of an idealism cut off from the ground, someone with the poplar winds of ideology blowing in his head, as the saying goes.

Yet when these words come from Erdoğan's mouth, like a perfect symphony, with an effect that pierces all hearts, they find their place in hearts without any problem of credibility. What gives a word its meaning is not the word's wording but its owner.

When Erdoğan says these words, with the practice behind him that lends all these words weight, validity and authenticity, no one can have a word of objection. The struggles he has waged throughout his political life deepen the meaning of these words. Each of the 9 elections he has entered in the last 20 years has had its own distinct and impressive story. What happened before and after each of his elections is like a heroic story in its own right.

We are not even counting the many events he went through in between. He emerged from each with a crushing victory, but instead of succumbing to arrogance after every triumph he won, he became more compassionate, tender and humble toward the oppressed, and in return more imposing toward the unjust, the tyrants. He did not take victory as his own; he took it as a trial from God. Not only this nation but many nations in the world are in a position to witness that he has passed this trial worthily.

He never showed disloyalty toward the companions who contributed in one way or another to these victories. He did not squander his companions by being taken in by the embellished reports and rhetoric brought by the transgressors. Both because he knows that an attack on his companions is an attack on himself, and because he himself possesses the highest level of the sense of loyalty to the covenant with his comrades. When he says, of each of his brothers who has carried the banner of this cause,

"May God be pleased with them," his prayer means "Make our feet firm upon righteousness."

Mentioning the quality of loyalty to the covenant is easy; living it is very, very difficult. He is a leader because he is able to overcome this difficulty far better than anyone else.

He is emotional enough not to hesitate to say that he does politics for the sake of the sparkle in the eyes of a little girl, but above all he is a monotheist, enough to proclaim that he does it for God.

He says he does politics for that sparkle in the eyes of a girl. Truly, the meaning in that little girl's eyes can only be grasped by the trust, friendship, compassion, determination and authenticity radiating from his own eyes.