Erdogan Greater Than Nasser?

Reporting in the Western press (NYT, Reuters) leading up to yesterday's elections in Turkey said a runoff was likely. But that's not the way it turned out. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan glided to reelection. BBC summarizes:

Mr Erdogan got nearly 53% with almost all votes counted. His closest rival Muharrem Ince was on 31%. 

He will now assume sweeping new powers, won in a controversial referendum last year. The post of PM will be abolished. 

Mr Ince accepted the result on the basis of poll figures - but said that everything about the vote was unfair. 

Final results will be announced on Friday.

Erdogan's Justice and Development Party along with the ultra-nationalist National Movement Party won 53% of the parliamentary vote:

Mr Erdogan said the governing alliance led by his AK Party (AKP) had secured a majority, in a separate vote for the 600-member chamber.

State news agency Anadolu said the AKP itself had 42% of the votes for parliament with 99% counted, giving it a projected 293 seats. Its partner, the MHP, had 11% and 50 seats.

The opposition CHP won only 23% (146 seats) despite Mr Ince's popularity in the presidential vote, while its nationalist ally the Iyi (Good) party won 10% (44 seats).

In a development that will please Kurdish voters, the pro-Kurdish HDP exceeded the 10% threshold needed to enter parliament. With 67 seats, it will form the chamber's second-largest opposition faction.

The HDP results are a bright spot given that the party was virtually banned during Erdogan's Kurdish crackdown and then the post-coup state of emergency.

Turkey is now a version of a police state, not as bad as Sisi's Egypt, but something akin to it. Erdogan has maintained the state of emergency for two years. He has reportedly jailed as many as 100,000, and blacklisted more than that. Newspaper, television and radio station closures number more than 100. The government has the ability to unilaterally freeze Twitter and YouTube.

But for all this that is reprehensible, it cannot be denied that Erdogan has achieved a lot. Read Ella George's excellent "Purges and Paranoia" and it's hard not to come away with the impression that Erdogan is the Nasser of our time.

Erdogan has picked fights with Russia, the United States and Europe, and he hasn't lost yet; in fact, he has quite a bit of leverage over each. He has successfully revised Turkey's constitution more than once. He has built up the country's infrastructure.

If Nasser's claim to fame was standing up to the great powers while developing Egypt, Erdogan has even more to boast of because Turkey has never suffered the humiliating military defeats that Egypt endured under Nasser's leadership.