ANKARA - Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton stated that the policies carried out by President Erdoğan of the AKP are not in the interest of Turkey and commented on the elections, "If Erdoğan steals this election, there won't be a satisfactory solution for anybody."

 

The elections, which have occupied Ankara politics for a long time, have evolved into uncertainty after the earthquakes that turned 11 Maraş-centered cities into rubble. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who stated that he would call for elections on March 10 before the earthquake, pointed to May 14 as the date. While the Nation Alliance made comments that "Elections cannot be postponed, they will be held on time" in the election debates that resumed a week after the earthquake in which thousands of people were under the rubble, the People's Alliance has so far not commented.

 

John Bolton, the former National Security Advisor of the United States (USA), stated that Erdoğan is trying to pursue domestic and foreign policy with Neo-Ottomanism, adding that it is a serious problem to put pressure on the media to stay in power and to prevent freedom of thought and expression.

 

Defining as "sick man of Europe" for Turkey where Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is at the helm in an article he wrote in the Wall Street Journal, Bolton made evaluations to the Mesopotamia Agency (MA) regarding the election plans of the AKP government.

 

ERDOĞAN DOESN'T REFLECT THE GENERAL OPINION

 

Stating that there's a chance for the true voice of the Turkish people to be heard with the upcoming presidential election in May in Turkey, Bolton said: "I hope that there's a free and open transparent election, that they'll be able to get to select the leader that they really want. And if it turns out not to be president Erdoğan I think there's every chance that Turkey will reverse many of the decisions and policies that Erdoğan has followed. Its alliance with the Kremlin, its objection to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, its provocative activities around the Middle East. I think these are Erdoğan's policies. I don't think they reflect the general opinion among the Turkish population. So if there really is a free and fair election, then we'll find out. If Erdoğan tries to steal the election if he suppresses the media, if he tries to block people from expressing their opinions in order to keep him in power, then I think we've got a real problem. I hope that's not right. I don't think Erdoğan is where the Turkish people are. And I think if they can express themselves, that is the ultimate sovereignty of any country. That's where legitimacy is found. Let's see what the people have to say."

 

NEO-OTTOMANISM POLICY

 

Stating that Erdoğan had moved away in a very fundamental sense from the constitutional structure when the Ottoman Empire broke up, Bolton said: "I think like any country, everybody has their problems, there's been progress. There have been mistakes, that's fine, but the constitutional structure had worked for essentially 100 years and what Erdoğan has been trying to do is pursue a kind of Neo-ottomanist domestic and foreign policy. His recent handling of the economy has been appalling. The lira is in crisis, the way he has handled macro economic policy. But it is the overall approach of Erdoğan that focuses on himself as the center of state and society make fundamentally anti-democratic precepts and his meddling in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East has been toward this Neo-ottomanist objective in the region. I don't think that's going to go anywhere. I think the region is not the same as it was 100 years ago. And it's not helpful to Turkey."

 

THE ANTI-KURDISH POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT

 

Stating that Erdoğan has repeatedly demonstrated he's anti-Kurdish, Bolton said: "Erdoğan's demonstrated it inside Turkey in a number of ways. He's demonstrating it in Syria and has for many years. I think that Erdoğan pursues policies that benefit Erdoğan, not Turkey as a whole. That's part of the problem and not recognizing how difficult this issue is. Certainly what I've said in conversations with Kurdish representatives is you don't get to have meaningful discussions about the future of Kurds in Turkey or anywhere else until Erdoğan is out of power. So opposition often have trouble agreeing on how to deal with a figure like Erdoğan I understand how difficult that is, but in the election system, I hope in a second round of the Turkish presidential election, that the opposition stage united votes Erdoğan out of office and then try and address these problems. They are hard problems to solve. There's simply no doubt about that. And I hope that the citizens of Turkey, whatever their background, can work it out together, but I guarantee that there won't be a satisfactory solution for anybody if Erdoğan steals this election."