Hearts were broken but no conflict emerged

The adrenaline of the world of politics suddenly increased the other day with raised excitement.

The dispute over the barriers was assumed to drive a wedge between President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and this immediately created a stir in the world of politics.

The reason is very simple: If there is friction between Gül and Erdoğan, then the presidential election in 2014 will be affected and political balances may change. This may bring new developments both for the ruling Justice and Development Party (Ak Party) and for other parties.

When you closely monitor Gül and Erdoğan, you will not have difficulty recognizing that these two leaders would never get involved in an overt conflict or a political row whatever the cost.

In political life, when one is occupying a presidency with restricted powers and the other a prime ministry with endless powers, it is impossible for them not to have differences of opinion. Especially if one of them is extremely ambitious with high self esteem, like Erdoğan, if he has a personality that likes to have control over every topic, that is peremptory, while the other one is extremely soft, and despite the fact that he looks as if he is reconciliatory, he would never compromise on certain principles.

It is inevitable that from time to time these two people experience differences of opinion.

It is known that Gül and Erdoğan get angry at each other sometimes because of some political practices, and sometimes because of speeches and statements. None of this is secret.

However, these differences of opinion have never turned into a public conflict. Neither Gül nor Erdoğan has allowed an environment to flourish where they offend, embarrass or rival each other. They have swallowed their resentments and continued their way.

The barricade fracture on Republic Day constituted the latest example on the list. A statement from the Presidential Mansion provided closure; however, statements in between the lines such as, “Everybody should be very careful about what we are talking about. Nothing can be more normal than my drawing the attention of authorities so that celebrations remain calm,” show that there was a certain degree of heartbreak.

Then, Gül’s statement came yesterday. He finished it off by saying, “There cannot be double-headed rule in the state.” The statement was also evidence of “broken heartedness.”

Probably those words exchanged between President Gül and Prime Minister Erdoğan on “who has which powers” were like alarm bells for most of us. As a matter of fact, Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek justifiably pointed out to this situation. He drew attention to the chaos that might erupt in the future and emphasized the importance of the constitutional change.

Can you imagine if now it were a different person sitting at Çankaya elected by the people, then where would we find ourselves in a discussion with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on who has which powers?

On one hand there is a president elected by the people and supported by a political party, on the other hand, another party’s prime minister who has carried his party to power. If we do not prevent this confusion in front of us through the constitutional change, then we will be pushing this country toward chaos.