Turkish PM complains of 'having less power'

ANKARA

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R), accompanied by his wife Sare Davutoglu, greets AK Party supporters during an election rally ahead of the country's June 7 parliamentary elections, in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, June 5, 2015. Reuters Photo

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has acknowledged that he feels he now enjoys less power over his life since he became involved in politics, particularly after he took over as prime minister.

“They think that when you become prime minister, the person becomes very powerful. The more the positions rise, the more the power declines,” Davutoğlu said in an interview aired June 5 on Number 1 Türk FM, whose target audience is young people. 

“Power is the capacity to do your own job by yourself. You want to ride a horse, the guard says, ‘Sir, we don’t know the horse, we should train him first,’” he said, relating an anecdote about wanting to ride horses during a visit to the television series “Resurrection-Ertuğrul.”

He gave another example when he indicated that he went to bibliopoles. “Some friends were there but you cannot show interest in them because … you cannot do what you want,” he said.

During another interview with Number One FM, also a radio station appealing to young people, Davutoğlu underlined that being in a high position does not make someone powerful.

“It is a very beautiful hadith: ‘The most powerful person is he who defeats his anger.’ There is nobody more powerful than a person who controls and rules himself and his emotions, there is nobody who is freer than a person who can stay alone on his own,” he said. 

“We are not able to stay alone on our own. But does this make one upset? Actually, the desire to take the horse and rush into the desert is the desire to stay alone on your own. Walking in the forest and near the seaside... You desire these,” he said.