Sunday started well for Tayyip, as he decked himself out in a plaid 1970s-style sports-coat, in apparent sartorial solidarity with his base, and voted in Uskudar, a conservative district on Istanbul's Asian side.
Then it got even better, as his Justice and Development Party (AKP) trounced all comers in nation-wide municipal elections. The ruling party took an estimated 45.5 percent of the national vote, handily beating the main opposition CHP's 28 percent and marking a perfect six-for-six in elections since the party's 2001 founding. The AKP's total represents an increase of seven points from the last local elections, in 2009, though a four-point drop from 2011 parliamentary elections.
As he took to his Ankara balcony to deliver the victory speech Sunday night, the PM was in high spirits. He began by waxing Ottoman, thanking his "brothers" in Palestine and Egypt, the Balkans and Syria, before thanking the voters themselves. "My brothers, I thank you very much because you have protected the new Turkey’s struggle for independence. I thank each of you because you have protected the ideal of a great Turkey and the targets of a great Turkey."
He went on to declare war against his many unseen enemies. "Those who managed could flee. More can flee tomorrow. I have filed criminal complaints about some of them; they can also flee. As I have said, from now on we’ll enter their lairs. They will pay for this. How can you threaten our national security?"
He added a bit more fire and brimstone, then appeared to contradict himself, hinting at forgiveness. "Come on, let’s turn over a new page. Oh, the opposition. Oh, the people who have given their hearts to the opposition. Turkey’s interests must be over everything else...Let’s raise Turkey together...We have come to serve the people, not to be a master over them. We are only the porters of a big stone on the path."
Winding down after about 20 minutes, the prime minister claimed his blushing bride. "This is the wedding day of the new Turkey," he said, before closing with a bit of romance. "We got wet together under the pouring rain. In all the songs I am listening to now, everything reminds me of you. Everything reminds me of Turkey."
Tayyip has wooed you, Turkey, and won your hearts yet again. He's all yours.
