Ankara’s 'Beştepe' palace would want early elections

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Celal Doğan met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last week; its story was in daily Hürriyet. According to HDP sources, Erdoğan’s priority was not the formation of a coalition government but early elections, which he defined as “repeat elections.”

This is not a secret to anybody, indeed. President Erdoğan knows that if a functional coalition government is formed, then he will be residing alone in his palace in Beştepe, Ankara. 

In a coalition government, he sees that he will not be able to meddle with affairs as he used to. Moreover, his discretionary fund means would be removed and the budget of the presidency would be reduced.
 
More importantly, he knows that on the road to calling the four cabinet ministers to account, the spotlights will be turned to the “zeroing operation” and what will happen as its probable consequences.

For this reason, even if a coalition government is formed, he would do whatever he can to prevent it from functioning.   

And, even though the coalition talks have not started, he has given signals of a snap election by saying things like “a minority government would not work; a coalition cannot function; nobody should avoid the opinion of the people,” at fast-breaking dinners.

Well, would the results change in an early election? 

Surveys show that there will not be a different result, but this does not matter to him. If necessary, he can risk three or four early elections in a row because he must be calculating that people would be fed up with so many elections in a row and he would gain more supporters for the “one-man system” in his dreams. 

Meanwhile, who cares about the remaining unsolved problems of the country? 

If we consider the political incapacity and short visions of opposition leaders, it would be easy for him to stage his own game. In this game plan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is only an extra. He will meet with the leaders and he will make an effort to form a coalition but he will not be able to prevent each reconciliation platform from being blown away by Erdoğan. 

Indeed, many things may change in politics from today to tomorrow, we have seen that, however, this is what I see when I look at today’s picture and the mood of the president. 

The ‘so-called’ scientists

President Erdoğan said a Muslim would have nothing to do with drugs or gambling. He said he considered cigarettes should also be included in this context. 

Who can deny these words? Regardless of whether you are a Muslim or not, you should not have anything to do with drugs, excessive alcohol and smoking. These are unhealthy, even if we do not believe in any religion, and we should stay away from them. 

Then the president said: “Certain scientists, the so-called ones, smoke and drink alcohol.”

I am focusing on the “so-called” scientist phrase. 

There is no association between smoking or alcohol and determining whether a scientist is a “real” one or a “so-called” one. We know no such correlation exists. 

For instance, fıqh (Islamic law) professors who do not smoke or drink alcohol can make interpretations such as: “if one does not steal from the state account, then it cannot be called corruption or stealing.”

What I am saying is scientific activities have nothing to do with religion or religious affairs.