Recep Tayyip Erdoğan always saw himself as a man of the people, as someone who won majorities. And now? He lost several million votes within a year. The president is experiencing a debacle in the local elections – one that could be a sign of things to come.
It’s difficult to write this sentence. The beginning of the end for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – was that what happened in Turkey on Sunday? People have developed a habit of caution and skepticism that has grown over the years in which Erdoğan always found his way back. After every defeat, of which there were a few. Already during the protests in Gezipark in 2013, many thought that he had exceeded the zenith of his power. In 2015, his AKP lost the parliamentary elections, and in 2016, parts of the military staged a coup.