Topic Of The Day:-“Erdoğan’s Day: On Turkey Polls”
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s re-election as President of Turkey comes as no surprise. With this, his authoritarian grip will be further consolidated; in the new term, he will acquire the sweeping executive powers given to the presidency through last year’s referendum. With Mr. Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its allies also winning the parliamentary election, his control over the government is untrammelled. The elections were held in a state of emergency, imposed in July 2016 following a coup attempt. One presidential candidate, Selahattin Demirtaş of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), contested from prison. The outcome, which was expected, is a big setback to the secularist Republican People’s Party, the main Opposition. Its candidate, Muharrem İnce, who ended up with 30.7% of the vote compared to Mr. Erdoğan’s 52.6%, had promised to bring back a system of checks and balances over presidential power by strengthening civil liberties and restoring a constitutional democratic order. Mr. İnce had attempted a new compact between Turkey’s secular vote bank and religious conservatives, in an attempt to overcome the distrust between the statist-secularists and Islamic parties that has polarised Turkish politics since the days of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The rise of the neo-Islamist AKP and the consolidation of Mr. Erdoğan’s power drew from the backlash against the statist-secularists and the economic growth in the first decade of AKP rule. A faltering economy, characterised by plunging foreign direct investment, high inflation and a depreciating lira, had given the Opposition some hope of taking the fight to Mr. Erdoğan. But the President’s polarising personality and his party’s wide organisational reach, coupled with the perception that he was the right person to revive economic growth, helped him retain power. His electoral victory will embolden his regime to continue its authoritarian policies against critics, a greater worry now in the face of his newly acquired powers. His victory is likely to see Turkey continuing with its belligerent role in the West Asian neighbourhood. For minorities such as the Kurds, the silver lining is the fact that Mr. Demirtaş’s liberal-democratic HDP managed to win more than 10% of the vote to secure entry into Parliament. In contrast to Mr. Erdoğan’s triumphalism as the results trickled in, Mr. İnce was graceful in defeat and promised to work as an Opposition force for a more democratic Turkey. A stable, democratic and pluralist Turkey is essential in a neighbourhood that continues to be blighted by ethnicallydriven civil wars. As things stand, Mr. Erdoğan’s victory signals another hyper-nationalist, authoritarian turn.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Consolidated
Meaning: Strengthen (one’s position or power).
Example: “the company consolidated its position in the international market”
Synonyms: Strengthen, Secure
2) Sweeping
Meaning: Wide in range or effect.
Example: “we cannot recommend any sweeping alterations”
Synonyms: Extensive, Wide-ranging
Antonyms: Narrow, Restricted
3) Untrammelled
Meaning: Not limited by rules or any other controlling influence.
Example: Self-governing schools are untrammelled by education authority rules.
Synonyms: Freedom
4) Setback
Meaning: Something that happens that delays or prevents a process from developing.
Example: Sally had been recovering well from her operation, but yesterday she experienced/suffered a setback.
5) Ended up
Meaning: To reach a particular place or achieve a situation after other activities.
Example: After two weeks of traveling around Europe, we ended up in Paris.
6) Polarised
Meaning: Divide or cause to divide into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs.
Example: “the cultural sphere has polarized into two competing ideological positions”
7) Backlash
Meaning: A strong negative reaction by a large number of people, especially to a social or political development.
Example: “a public backlash against racism”
Synonyms: Counterblast, Comeback
8) Faltering
Meaning: Lose strength or momentum.
Example: “the music faltered, stopped, and started up again”
Synonyms: Hesitate, Delay
9) Plunging
Meaning: Rapidly decreasing.
Example: “sleet, snow, and plunging temperatures also worsened conditions”
10) Depreciating
Meaning: Diminish in value over a period of time.
Example: “the latest cars will depreciate heavily in the first year”
Synonyms: Devalue, Cheapen
Antonyms: Appreciate
11) Lira
Meaning: (until the introduction of the euro in 2002) the basic monetary unit of Italy, notionally equal to 100 centesimos; the basic monetary unit of Turkey, equal to 100 kurus.
12) Revive
Meaning: To start to grow, develop, or become successful again, or to make something do this.
Example: Ministers are hoping to set up a programme to revive the ailing agricultural sector.
Synonyms: Revitalize, Refresh
Antonyms: Abolish
13) Embolden
Meaning: Give (someone) the courage or confidence to do something.
Example: “emboldened by the claret, he pressed his knee against hers”
Synonyms: Encourage, Strengthen
Antonyms: Dishearten, Discourage
14) Acquired
Meaning: To get something.
Example: He acquired the firm in 2008.
Synonyms: Obtain, Get
15) Belligerent
Meaning: Hostile and aggressive.
Example: “the mood at the meeting was belligerent”
Synonyms: Hostile, Aggressive
Antonyms: Friendly, Peaceable
16) Triumphalism
Meaning: Excessive exultation over one’s success or achievements (used especially in a political context).
Example: “an air of triumphalism reigns in his administration”
17) Trickled
Meaning: Come or go slowly or gradually.
Example: “the first members of the congregation began to trickle in”
18) Blighted
Meaning: Spoil, harm, or destroy.
Example: “the scandal blighted the careers of several leading politicians”
Synonyms: Ruin, Spoil
19) Ethnically
Meaning: With reference to birth, origins, or cultural background.
Example: “a racially and ethnically diverse society”
