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In Turkey, the Interior Minister offers his resignation due to the stupidly prepared curfew, President Erdogan rejects it. The episode highlights the growing centrifugal forces in government.
Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu is responsible for organizing a short-term curfew.
The strict two-day curfew for 31 Turkish cities ended as turbulently as it started. Shortly before the 48-hour deadline on Monday night, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced his resignation. Therefore, he took full responsibility for the chaotic scenes that had occurred on Friday night after the curfew, which was announced on very short notice. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, refused to resign from Soylu and decreed that the interior minister should remain in office.
Crowds before curfew
The announcement of the curfew just hours before it went into effect triggered a storm in supermarkets on Friday night. According to estimates, several hundred thousand Turks rushed to the streets to stock up over the weekend. Images of crowds of people in and in front of the stores circulated in the media. To make matters worse, local authorities had not been informed in advance about the ban on leaving and had not taken any precautions.
The curfew was largely fulfilled. In Istanbul, the largest and perhaps most vibrant city in Europe, there was an almost unreal calm for two days. Given the previous chaotic hours, which provided ideal conditions for new infections, the move can hardly be considered a success. In Turkey, the number of people infected with the new corona virus has so far not been controlled. On Monday night, almost exactly a month after the first illness on March 11, about 61,000 people were infected. Istanbul represents almost two thirds of all cases.
Two thirds of the 61,000 cases of Turkish coronavirus have been reported in Istanbul. (Photo by Chris McGrath / Getty Images)
Nationalist hard line
The criticisms of Soylu, who had the curfew as Minister of the Interior, were heard immediately after the opposition announced it, but also on social networks. However, the resignation on Sunday night was a surprise. Soylu is one of the most influential and visible ministers in Erdogan’s cabinet. He was appointed to the office shortly after the coup attempt in July 2016 and has since distinguished himself as a security politician. In the name of fighting terrorism, he had several opposition mayors deposed in the country’s Kurdish southeast. He was also one of the most vehement defenders of the controversial recall in Istanbul. The Turkish Interior Minister also played a leading role in the refugee crisis.
Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ministers have rarely resigned. The President does not accept the presentation of a fait accompli. It is undergoing a reorganization, as was the case recently when the Minister of Transport was fired a few weeks ago. Consequently, the rejection of Soylu’s resignation did not surprise many observers.
A risky maneuver of power?
However, opinions differ on what recent developments mean for the power structure in the Turkish government. Soylu is said to have ambitions to inherit Erdogan someday. This inevitably puts him in competition with the President’s son-in-law, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who sees himself as the Crown Prince. Reports of conflicts between the two politicians continue to reach the public.
Advertiser Murat Yetkin writes on his notorious blog that Soylu came out stronger from the move. The Home Secretary is particularly popular with supporters of the ultra-nationalist MHP, the partner of the Erdogan Justice and Development Party (AKP) coalition. His resignation would have weighed heavily on the government coalition at a time when MHP chief Devlet Bahceli was speculating about the future of the alliance in light of MHP’s extremely poor health. Erdogan’s veto emphasizes Soylu’s central importance to the government. Bahceli also strengthened Soylu through a tweet on Monday night.
Was it all ultimately a risky move to gain power? Özgür Ünlühisarcikli, the head of the German Marshall Fund in Ankara, believes that the interior minister was mistreated due to his position. Soylu had received the most criticism for mistakes made in the fight against the coronavirus in recent days, although all far-reaching measures were certainly taken in consultation with the president. Ünlühisarcikli said in an interview that he was now even denied the resignation. His authority in the AKP could only suffer as a result.
Centrifugal forces in government.
In any case, the episode highlights the centrifugal forces in the Erdogan government, especially in times of crisis. The cabinet was divided by days during the curfew. While Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and the Scientific Advisory Board called for a halt to economic life to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the President and the Minister of Finance opposed it for economic reasons. The compromise found caused considerable damage to health policy and plunged the government into a crisis.
In this regard, a parallel can be drawn with the local elections in Istanbul, when the government also disagreed on how to proceed in view of its surprising defeat. The final decision to redial proved to be disastrous for the AKP. The susceptibility to errors of Erdogan’s electrical machinery, which once worked so smoothly, is increasing.
At least regarding curfew, one wants to learn from mistakes. Residents of large cities will also be unable to leave their homes in the coming weekends. This time, President Erdogan reported on the measure Monday night, four days in advance.
