Thursday's Inauguration Marks Beginning Of A Chaotic Era

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the presidential oath on Thursday after having been elected by popular vote on Aug. 10. During his election campaign, Erdoğan repeatedly said that he planned to act like the head of the executive branch if elected president, sparking controversy. As per the Turkish Constitution, the executive branch is the government and prime minister is its head.
Furthermore, an individual should cut his or her ties with his party and serve impartially above party politics after having been elected president. Erdoğan's bid is widely considered to be an attempt to fulfill his desire to switch the country to a presidential government system from the current parliamentary system, which requires an amendment to the Constitution.
Bugün daily columnist Nuh Gönültaş wrote a Friday piece titled “Signs of Chaos.” According to Gönültaş, what is referred by Erdoğan as the “new Turkey” is in fact the beginning of a chaotic era in Turkey. “Yes, Turkey has elected a president but this person says that he will be a different kind of president. Meanwhile, he doesn't even correct those claiming that his discourse means he aims to control everyone and everything. And this president defines a mission for himself which is out of the constitutional boundaries,” Gönültaş said.
Milliyet daily columnist Mehmet Tezkan also wrote about the probable chaos awaiting Turkey in the near-future. “It seems like ever greater tensions will hit the country. We have seen signs of it over the last few days,” Tezkan said. The columnist wrote that the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) will probably assess each step by the new president to see whether it violates the Constitution. The debate on the violation of the Constitution had already started ahead of Erdoğan's inauguration ceremony, when Erdoğan slammed the CHP in his speech at the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) congress on Wednesday, though he was already considered the president-elect, as the Constitution stipulates impartiality for the president, Tezkan explained.
According to Tezkan, the CHP's protest over the inauguration is a sign that the party will track all breaches of the Constitution by Erdoğan until the 2015 general election. “President Erdoğan will constantly try to expand his domination. The government will support his moves. Then the parliamentary group of the ruling party will also express its support. And the conflict will begin at this point. Parliament will spend whole days discussing what President Erdoğan said and did. TV debates and columns will also focus on it,” Tezkan commented. The columnist added that it is clear that Erdoğan will take concrete steps to, as he announced, act like the head of a presidential government.
Hasan Cemal, a columnist who writes for the online news portal T24, also commented that Turkey now has a president who will ignore the Constitution and considers himself above the law. Cemal also added that Erdoğan has already pressed the button to switch the country to the presidential government system in practice.

GÜNAY HİLAL AYGÜN (Cihan/Today's Zaman)