Turkey: Erdogan’s "Beyefendi" personality cult

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also known as "Beyefendi"

In an editorial the Jerusalem post writes that a few weeks ago two of Turkey’s most popular soccer teams, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, met for the last game of the season in Istanbul. It would determine the league champion, and given the everlasting rivalry between two teams, Fenerbahçe supporters weren’t happy with Galatasaray taking the lead. So a brouhaha began. Players rushed to their locker rooms waiting for the crowd to calm down. But then another problem emerged: Turkey’s Soccer Federation wanted to hand the championship cup to Galatasaray in their locker room, yet the team objected to this attempt. It became obvious that someone charismatic and experienced in conflict resolution was needed to overcome this crisis.

An executive of Galatasaray eventually delivered the message: “‘Beyefendi’ says that the cup should be handed on the field.”

“Beyefendi,” loosely translated as “gentleman,” is an honorific used after a man’s first name. However, “Beyefendi” no longer needs a name attached to it since pretty much everybody knows who it is referring to: Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Even his staff refers to Erdogan as just “Beyefendi,” including the ministers of his cabinet and media members.

“Beyefendi” is regularly called upon for even the most minor detail, such as the handing out of the championship cup. In a speech last week, Erdogan openly admitted that he is “responsible for anything in his country, since he is the prime minister.”

Not a day passes without Erdogan sparking a public debate out of the blue.

With his strong popularity and charismatic leadership it appears that Erdogan can take the country to any direction as he pleases. He is currently unchallenged in Turkey’s political sphere as the opposition parties continue to shrink. Therefore he is likely to be the Turkey’s first popularly elected president. But the “Beyefendi’s presidency will probably be less likely to resemble the American presidency, with its built-in checks and balances, then the ‘Turkmenbashi,” the dictator of Turkmenistan.

EU-Digest