When Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was recently sworn in as the President of the Republic of Turkey, the ceremony did not lack in symbolism, much of it contradictory.
Erdoğan represents a shift in the nature of the Turkish state. He is a fundamental departure from every Turkish national leader before him and the most consequential Turkish political figure since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk himself. Erdoğan emerged on the national stage out of the country’s Islamist Milli Görüş movement, which is often compared to the Muslim Brotherhood (although it differs in some key respects). After breaking with the movement in 2001, he took his Justice and Development Party (AKP) from victory to victory and was the country’s longest serving prime minister since İsmet İnönü, Atatürk’s right-hand man.
Photo credit: KorayGokhan
Ilhan 
Sir,
there are a few points I’d like to address:
1.) The MHP is NOT more Kemalist than the CHP. In fact, one could say that certain parts of the MHP closely resemble the AKP. The MHP has an extremely strong religious wing, the only difference with the AKP being that they are very nationalistic.
2.) Kemalizm should not be confused with hardcore laicite to the point of advocating atheism, as many have mistaken it to be inside and outside of Turkey.
In fact, the nomination of Mr. Ihsanoglu resembles a “back to the roots” move by the CHP. Mr. Ihsanoglu would have been a favorite of the administration and Atatürk in the early republican years; he was from a well-known family, had a religious education, is very well-read, has extensive knowledge and connections in international affairs, is slightly conservative but prefers personal freedoms.
3.) We cannot ignore how Western powers have influenced this shift to a political Islam in Turkey. The fact that the European Union has ignored Turkey’s progress for the last 40 years and kept it from joining the Union with sorry excuses has not only alienated Turks, but also convinced many that “the West does not want us.”
4.) If Turkey herself manifested in an avatar, that avatar would be Mr. Erdogan. He is THE stereotypical Turk, and how Turks want their leader to be. He is a heavy handed autocrat who seizes control and lets everybody know he is in charge, he has a load mouth and strains of megalomania, and he will start a fight with you because he doesn’t like the way you look at his tea cup.