Did Erdogan win or did his charisma win?

As usual, in cases of victory and victory – as in the case of the victory of (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan – all the factors, the right decisions and the speeches that led the successful to achieve this success emerge. It also highlights all the defects, humiliations, mistakes and shortcomings of the failures, all successes and victories without exception are destined to this result.

We can explain this in terms of psychology and sociology:

A successful player does not show his flaws and weaknesses after winning, for two reasons, the first is that these mistakes have already appeared previously and his competitors were keen to show them, but people did not see them as big as to prevent them from supporting him to win, and on the other hand that success covers these mistakes and no one mentions them.

But the most important characteristic of those who continue to succeed is that they are fully aware of their flaws and mistakes, and are not deceived by winning and thinking that they are perfect or free from error.

The opposition portrayed people on social media that their hand was full of success this time, and that the loss was achieved for Erdogan, and they relied on the illusion of charisma and throaty speeches, and thought that it alone guaranteed success.

Sometimes in the state of joy and euphoria of victory, the victor may think himself flawless because he has triumphed, and at that moment he is able to arrogance that cannot be cured, and history tells us that over time it often causes the elimination of its owners despite the victories they have achieved.

The most important characteristic of President Erdogan is that so far he has not made this mistake, victory and success did not prevent him from seeing his mistakes, as after each election he began his preparations for the next elections from the second day of the announcement of the election result, but no one likes to see this fact, that this man works for his country day and night tirelessly.

There are those who looked at the political scene in Turkey a year or two before the elections, and all they saw was a bankrupt, failing, destructive and corrupt government. Then this false image began to be promoted on social media and in international circles, and it was increased and amplified until it became as if it were a complete reality, and not a lie invented by some, believed and worked on day and night and promoted in the media until millions followed them on social networking sites, thinking that it was a truth. The election result showed that it was just an illusion in which they lived and from which they only woke up to the sounds of joy, success and Erdogan's victory for a third term.

The opposition portrayed people on social media that their hand was full of success this time, that the loss was certain for Erdogan, and they relied on the illusion of charisma and throaty speeches, believing that only they could guarantee success. I am not underestimating the charisma in politics as it is a dangerous factor and attracts millions, but in fact charisma is not only about height, age, showing connection to God and claiming to love the masses, but something much bigger than that.

Charisma in our current world is no longer as it was in the past only a gift from God, who gives it to whomever he wants, and uses it to form a mass movement around him, but it has become an interactive movement and a very complex relationship between leaders and the masses.

This huge change in the social structure, means of communication, the rapid spread of information, and the increase in awareness made this charisma alone not enough, perhaps it can be used only once in the world of elections, but in order to bear fruit after the first time, it must be supported by real achievements, strength and successes on the ground, otherwise supporters will soon retreat and see the charisma in its true and meager image and that it is just a vocal phenomenon that does not exist on the ground. This is what Erdogan believed in from the first moment, yes, God gave him that charisma and eloquence, but their owner along the line is hard work and real tangible achievements that contributed to the success he has now achieved.

If we look at it from the point of view of those who voted for Kılıçdaroğlu, perhaps they did not believe in the charisma that he tried to export to them, as he worked on it by miserable means such as attempts to discredit and export hate speech and violence, simply because he had little real success, but his only success was that he managed to be the head of the CHP by deception.

People realized that the charisma of CHP voters could emerge from this success, but it would never be a real success story for the wider public and the broad electoral bloc. If we take into account the fact that he really was unable to win any elections he entered, this supports the idea that I am trying to convey, which is that people are able to see his great shortcomings and not be deceived by his alleged charisma by him and his supporters.

Even Imamoglu, Yavaş, Davutoglu, and Babacan. Etcetera. All of them so far have not achieved any success that could give them charisma. Frankly, the only successes of the last two names have been in the work they did while under Erdogan. Imamoglu and Yavaş's only success was their victory in the municipal elections, a success that does not stand up to what the AKP has achieved for 25 years in a row, and this is the true charisma that people have come to see and expect from their leader.

Even the municipalities they won, their work did not succeed in nurturing this charisma, but it is a fact that consumes their attractiveness and reveals every day more of their mistakes, shame, shortcomings, and failures. It will emerge more – day by day – after their collective defeat.

Charisma is nourished by success, victory, victory and achievements, and these successes can be electoral, as well as fueled by successes to skillfully exit crises and overcome adversity, because there is a very close relationship between "crisis" and "charisma" at the etymological and real levels.

Since Erdogan stepped from local government to power in 2002, he has done a lot to create this charisma. At the forefront of what he did was his firm stand against the putschists, his famous position with the late Israeli President Shimon Peres at the Davos summit, which was known in Turkey as the "One Minnet" case, and President Erdogan's success in crossing the country to amend the constitution by a referendum.

Before that, when Erdogan was imprisoned while he was mayor, I wrote an article entitled "Charisma, Popular Culture and Fascism" in Reminder magazine in response to some intellectual circles that questioned his attractiveness; I asserted that Erdogan's charisma is not like any charisma and unique, against warnings about what charismatic forces have caused in history.

Soon after this article, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was founded. With the elections he entered in 2002, and despite being banned, he created charisma by defeating the political opponents of the period, and all those who were fed up with the people. At the ballot box, he became a candidate to pull Turkey out of the major political, social and economic crisis it was in.

This event itself was a door to "out of the crisis"; Erdogan was distinguished as a leader who freed himself from these political actors who were the cause of the problems and the crisis. At the time, I also wrote an article titled "The Extreme Reality of Charisma" in Birekim magazine later, my articles were included in my book called "The Times of Charisma."

It was not just a beautification of Erdogan; it was an application of the sociology of charisma to Erdogan's story, with purely political science and sociology data. After all, everything that happened and is happening was a chapter in the story of Erdogan and his heroine, our Turkish state, and the last round was nothing but a real struggle over the idea of Turkey being a great sovereign country or returning to the West and abroad.

In each of these chapters, Erdogan lived through a real struggle entered by a fierce warrior, in which he confronted those who conspired, maimed him, fought him, and then emerged victorious.

No political scientist, sociologist, or even any simple sane person can see these repeated victories as a coincidence, let alone the last case in which all political forces united against him! How can this triumph be a coincidence! It certainly can't.