The Turkification of the United States of America (2017!)

Until January 2017, when Donald Trump arrived in the White House, any suggestion that the United States and Turkey would become more alike politically would have been considered sheer lunacy.

And yet, there are many tell-tale signs that Turks and Americans increasingly find themselves in a very similar predicament.

Rural folks and their savior

The “country folk” – whether in central Anatolia or in what is called “flyover country” in the case of the United States – believe that their day has finally arrived. They sense the appearance of a true savior.

Just consider Donald Trump’s words from his Inaugural Speech on January 20, 2017, “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.”

That very much sounds like the core operating principle that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has applied in Turkey ever since he got into power in 2003.

Erdogan delivered, for a long time

In contrast to Trump, who is all about rhetoric, Erdogan during his first decade in office after 2003 actually delivered on his promise of social and economic inclusion.

For example, people living in Turkey’s rural areas now benefit from much better access to healthcare and education. They also have a much improved infrastructure than what was in place under previous governments.

That performance has yielded Erdogan a lot of political loyalty among his followers. It also explains why Erdogan’s grip on political power has been rather solid for a long time, despite his ever sharper turn toward autocracy.

A shaky consensus for modernity

Despite the two countries’ very different level of economic development, liberal-minded Turks and Americans alike have known for quite some time that the consensus for modernity in their societies is somewhat shaky.

But despite ominous political signs, both groups were ultimately convinced that the path to progress would continue, if on a circuitous route.

At the same time, there is no denying that the elites’ earlier disregard for their fellow citizens with lower incomes and bleaker future prospects, now haunts the modernity-oriented camps in both the United States and Turkey.

On parallel tracks

The degree to which the United States and Turkey now operate on parallel tracks take on astonishing forms. That has come as a shock to the American side of the equation. No matter how much urban America was concerned about Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign, it was always certain that their country is an unalterable beacon for modernity.

The parallel tracks on which the United States and Turkey operate are indeed astonishing. One of them is Erdogan’s yearning to emulate the U.S. presidential system in his own country. It has been a key motivating factor for him for a long time. (Update: In July 2018, following a national referendum, Erdogan finally succeeded with giving his country the constitutional structure of a presidential system.)

Erdogan’s ambitions to mimic the U.S. presidential system was not the real surprise. The real surprise lies in the fact of how U.S. President Donald Trump has returned the favor.

Cult-like leaders

Shocking though it may be to state at first, it is indisputable that since January 2017, the United States – under Trump — embraces and even heralds many of the despotic features of Erdogan’s rule in Turkey in its own borders.

Ever since his arrival in the Oval Office in January 2017, Trump has been very eager to replicate Erdogan’s insatiable and despotic appetite for demolishing basic standards of democracy.

But it is not just that demagoguery rules supreme for both leaders and that they demand a cult-like submission to them personally not just by their own faithful, but by pretty much anybody in the country. Both men go much further,

Great hostility toward media

Take Trump’s utter contempt for the news media. Even before he ever made it to the White House, Trump was yearning for Erdogan’s kind of media “management.”

Erdogan’s very effective strategy was to ruthlessly direct hostile takeovers of the news media in his country. He achieved his goals through fabricated criminal charges, artfully constructed tax cases, nepotism, intimidation or a pseudo-legal decision to close them down.

Ever the fan boy of Erdogan, the U.S.’s 45th President, less than two weeks into his presidency, sent out this tweet: “Somebody with aptitude and conviction should buy the FAKE NEWS and failing @nytimes and either run it correctly or let it fold with dignity!”

Trump: So envious of Erdogan

Deep down, Trump is admiring Turkey’s Great Leader, Recep Tayyib Erdogan, because of his relentlessness and what Trump would consider his far-sightedness.

In light of all that fancy footwork on Erdogan’s part — playing completely loose with the rule of law, the separation of powers, as well as his country’s customs and political traditions, all in the sole interest of furthering his own personal power – it is no surprise that Mr. Trump has at times turned into an admirer of the Turkish president.

Trump’s dream is already alive in Turkey

After all, Erdogan has his country pretty much exactly where Trump, according to his own tweets and speeches, would love for the United States to be.

For example, Erdogan owns the courts now. No more “bad” prosecutors, to use Trump’s vanity-driven and childlike language. There basically isn’t a public prosecutor left in Turkey or a police force that isn’t under Mr. Erdogan’s thumb.

When Donald Trump looks at his presidential colleague in Turkey, he must get weepy eyes. Erdogan has what Trump desires – a country where not just the executive, but also the legislative and judicial branches are mere annexes of himself.

Conclusion

Unless things change fundamentally, count on Trump to pursue the continued Turkification of the United States, as creepy, distasteful and completely unexpected as that is.

Editor’s note: This text is adapted from the German-language version, first published in Der Spiegel on May 16, 2017.