"PAUSE BETWEEN THE NOTES OF AN ENDLESS SONG"

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was for the third time elected leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). This is the third and last time, as the statute of the party does not allow its members, regardless of rank, to be elected to any party post more than three times. The life and political career of Erdogan reflect focus on the target and the implementation of policy ideas that are fiercely backed by his supporters and vehemently opposed by the opponents. Perhaps that is why the Turkish prime minister and the party he created with the liberal Islamic landmarks managed to retain and consolidate power in the country, which has experienced four military coups so far.

Yes, he had a predecessor, who was also generally understood to be an Islamist - the Turkish prime minister in 1997-1998, Necmettin Erbakan. But according to Turkish analysts, Erbakan made a strategic blunder and failed to take into account the strength of the main power in the country - the military - and the already established secular character of the majority of Turkish society. So after just one year he was removed from the post. When the AKP under Erdogan won the elections in 2002, for the same reason, many experts doubted the stability of its government. But they did not take into account one important factor his party won a landslide and for the first time in 16 years won the right to form a single-party government. These were difficult times in the economy and political life of the Republic of Turkey. The endless relentless political struggle between the leading parties of the time, True Way and Ana Vatan, inflation, banking and financial crises, the Kurdish question, the loss of political weight on the international scene - such was the picture of the day. What did Turkey gain from the ten-year rule of the Justice and Development, under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan?

Economy

Sound macroeconomic strategy coupled with prudent fiscal policies and major structural reforms, which were launched in 2002, not only brought to Turkey from the crisis, but also cemented her status as a steadily growing economy. Turkey is now the 16th largest economy in the world and fifth in comparison with the EU.

Let us note the fact that many experts and analysts gloss over. By strengthening economic cooperation with Azerbaijan Turkey succeeded in implementing many globally important projects, it became a transit country, getting from this great dividends to strengthen the economy, ensuring its energy security, protect itself from the financial crisis that is still shaking Europe.

Domestic policy

However, while economic reforms are advancing rapidly and producing tangible results, the political reforms of the Justice and Development were not always smooth. Shortly after Erdogan came to power, the activities of his party and the government began to be seen as an open threat to the secular foundations of the Turkish Republic.

The army and the military elite rather rigidly expressed doubts that the AKP would act in the interests of Turkey and has plans to transform the country into an Islamic republic. Although Recep Tayyip Erdogan from the outset of taking the post of head of government repeatedly stated that he is not going to deviate from the secular principles that underlie the modern political system.

In such circumstances, the ruling party and its leaders faced a tough task to defend their right to rule, and in the broader sense - their right to political present and future. The AKP understood well that in order to remove once and for all the question about the legitimacy of the power they received they will need to achieve concrete progress in the social sphere, while simultaneously promoting the priority of the "will of the people" thesis and the law (and thus, no doubt the legitimacy of the forces that came to power after the elections) over the institutions formed not by direct will of the people - the army, the state apparatus and the like. It is no accident that the past few years will be remembered for the scandalous revelations among generals which dealt a blow to the domestic political weight of the army, which has traditionally enjoyed high prestige and the confidence of society in Turkey. The adoption of the principle of legal and administrative liability of the military before civilian courts was a special success in the legal field of confrontation between the army and the Erdogan government has been. When, the first arrests of senior military officials accused of anti-government conspiracy began in 2008, and after some time the second and more significant palpable wave of arrests took place and the General Staff did not stand up for its "people", it became clear, in the words of the well-known Turkish political columnist, Ali Birand, that "the old days are gone". However, according to some Turkish analysts, as a result of the attack and arrest of highly qualified officers the combat capability Turkish military suffered, and this has had a negative impact on the recent operations against terrorists.

Foreign policy

The current foreign policy initiatives of the Turkish authorities were not always successful. From his first days in office Erdogan's government took a clear "pro-Western" course and declared the EU accession program a priority. In the early 2000s the Turkish public was very eager to join the European Union. Although Turkey long ago applied for membership, the dialogue between Ankara and Brussels began only in 2005. But almost immediately the negotiations reached an impasse. Not everybody is happy about Turkey's admission, and the major European political players, France and Germany, are in the opposing camp. As we have already noted, the current economic and political situation in Turkey is at quite a high and stable level, which is a required condition to become a worthy member of the EU. But it all boils down to the demands of some members of the EU, which Ankara considers unacceptable. These include the Turkish Republic of Cyprus, the recognition of the so-called "Armenian genocide", the "Kurdish question" and outright fear of a vast country with a Muslim population. Meanwhile, the activity of Ankara itself on this issue has subsided in recent years. Although Turkey still claims that it intends to continue its efforts to join the EU, debt and financial crises in the eurozone and the beginning of political differences in this regard within the union to make this idea less attractive for the Turkish public. Noteworthy in this regard is the fact that at the last congress of his party Erdogan did not say anything about cooperation with the EU and Turkey's integration into the European family, and confined himself to criticism of European policy in regard to Islam.

Today initiatives the main ambition can be clearly discerned in Ankara's foreign policy - to become a regional leader. Turkey almost immediately took the side of the people of the countries of the "Arab spring". And with regard to the entire Middle East, it seeks to play a political, diplomatic, economic, and even a spiritual role. Many experts have openly used the term "neo-Ottomanism". Prominent analyst Joshua Walker in the prestigious journal Foreign Policy notes that after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, in the XXI century, Turkey is eager to return again to the Middle East and become a regional power. But Erdogan himself rejected these doubts. "We have no other intentions in this region but brotherhood and mutual cooperation", - he said.

Whatever it is, the policy of the Turkish authorities' of "zero problems with neighbors" has not actually produced the expected results. Turkey and Israel, strategic allies in the past, are going through a time of open confrontation, and there are differences in key regional issues with Iran.

The so-called "football diplomacy" that led to the Zurich protocols between Turkey and Armenia was also doomed to failure from the very beginning. This step of the Turkish authorities seriously shook the confidence in the Turkish authorities both in the fraternal Azerbaijan and among most of the Turkish public. The situation was only defused after assurances by the Turkish leadership that everything will stop with these protocols unless Armenia abandons aggression against Azerbaijan and claims against Turkey. "We will never take any steps which could harm the national interests of Azerbaijan. Until the occupation of Azerbaijani territories ends, there will be no normalization," Erdogan assured in Baku.

However, opponents of the current Turkish government continues to accuse Erdogan's government of inconsistency in foreign policy, the absence of an independent course, and the radical opposition calls the AKP government the US satellite in the region.

Anyway, at the 4th Congress of the AKP for the third time Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected chairman of the ruling party, which he led to power and which runs the country for 10 years now. "This is not goodbye, but a stop, pause between the notes of an endless song. As before, with the same attitude and spirit, based on the tasks that the party will set, I will serve the interests of the people, "- he said at the congress, where he marked the tasks of the Party until 2023, when Turkey will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its formation.