Explaining his plans to switch Turkey from parliamentary to presidential system, the president compared his future reign to that of Hitler’s Nazi Germany
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun 2016 by comparing his forthcoming reign to that of Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
Speaking to a press conference on Thursday, Erdogan was trying to defend his switch to a presidential system when he claimed it was possible to implement the new rule while maintaining the unitary structure of the state.
To validate his point, the president used himself as an example by comparing his coming reign as the sultan to that of Nazi Germany.
“When we look [at other countries], we see that it is possible. You would see this when you look at Hitler’s Germany and other countries,” Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman quoted him as saying. “That shows that this [system] produces [better] results. Given this, why should we put shackles on our feet [by sticking with a parliamentary system]?”
Erdogan strongly supports the formation of a new presidential system, which he claims will eliminate the “double-headedness” in state governance and create a “more effective decision-making system.” Although, if truth be told, it seems like all this new system would do is eliminate disagreement from the governing process, turning Erdogan into an all powerful dictator.
Moreover, the Turkish president is not the only one who has drawn comparisons to Hitler. The country’s Prime Minister (and Erdogan’s right-hand man) Ahmet Davutoglu also used a similar reference just a couple of days ago.
“This system will not evolve into dictatorship but if we do not have this spirit, even the parliamentary system can turn into this (dictatorship),” Davutoglu said earlier this week, defending the plans to switch from a parliamentary to a presidential system. “There are authoritarian structures coming out of parliamentary systems. (Adolf) Hitler’s Germany was born out of a parliamentary system.”Perhaps the point they both are trying to make is that Erdogan can be a caliph without turning his country into a dictatorship – just like Hitler.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun 2016 by comparing his forthcoming reign to that of Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
Speaking to a press conference on Thursday, Erdogan was trying to defend his switch to a presidential system when he claimed it was possible to implement the new rule while maintaining the unitary structure of the state.
To validate his point, the president used himself as an example by comparing his coming reign as the sultan to that of Nazi Germany.
“When we look [at other countries], we see that it is possible. You would see this when you look at Hitler’s Germany and other countries,” Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman quoted him as saying. “That shows that this [system] produces [better] results. Given this, why should we put shackles on our feet [by sticking with a parliamentary system]?”
Erdogan strongly supports the formation of a new presidential system, which he claims will eliminate the “double-headedness” in state governance and create a “more effective decision-making system.” Although, if truth be told, it seems like all this new system would do is eliminate disagreement from the governing process, turning Erdogan into an all powerful dictator.
Moreover, the Turkish president is not the only one who has drawn comparisons to Hitler. The country’s Prime Minister (and Erdogan’s right-hand man) Ahmet Davutoglu also used a similar reference just a couple of days ago.
“This system will not evolve into dictatorship but if we do not have this spirit, even the parliamentary system can turn into this (dictatorship),” Davutoglu said earlier this week, defending the plans to switch from a parliamentary to a presidential system. “There are authoritarian structures coming out of parliamentary systems. (Adolf) Hitler’s Germany was born out of a parliamentary system.”Perhaps the point they both are trying to make is that Erdogan can be a caliph without turning his country into a dictatorship – just like Hitler.
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