The forces who are trying to push for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party actually aim to get Recep Tayyip Erdogan out of the political picture.

- 13 / 05 / 2008 13:07

The forces who are trying to push for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party actually aim to get Recep Tayyip Erdogan out of the political picture.

They feel that if Erdogan is out the AK party will be incapacitated and may even fall apart. They are right.

Since the closure case has started the prospects of Erdogan being left out of politics with ban by the Constitutional Court has been a nightmare for the party and its executives.

They have been pondering on who could replace Erdogan with capacity of holding the party together and they have found no one.

There was talk that Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek could do the job but soon people realized that the politician cannot be the glue. There was also talk that Foreign Minister Ali Babacan was being groomed to replace Erdogan in the future but he is still too experienced and has no political muscle.

So that leaves the party with no glue. That also means a real threat.

If the chips are down and the party is closed or received a heavy fine and Erdogan is banned from political activity for five years then the party will probably fall apart.

Some people think this is a good thing and that some new political parties can emerge from the ashes of the AK Party. They feel some of those who leave AK party could help bolster a new center right movement.

We feel they are playing with fire.

AK Party managed to bring stability and that will be seriously jeopardized without Erdogan and the party.

The other important factor is of course the future of President Abdullah Gul. He too cannot survive at the presidential palace and unfortunately once Erdogan is out of the picture the forces that have worked for his fall will target Gul. Can he survive? That is a big question…