How a Strongman Stays in Power

Key Points:

• Suzy Hansen’s book "From Life Itself" offers a detailed and nuanced chronicle of contemporary Turkey, focusing on the rise of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from a populist mayor to an authoritarian president, with Istanbul’s Karagümrük neighborhood serving as a microcosm of the country’s social and political dynamics.
• Hansen explores the complex interplay of factors disrupting Turkish society, including the conservative Islamist base supporting Erdoğan, the influx of Syrian refugees, and the longstanding tensions between urban natives and rural migrants, while critiquing Erdoğan’s increasingly autocratic rule marked by purges, media control, and corruption.
• The author highlights Erdoğan’s use of nationalist and pan-Islamist rhetoric, his economic strategy centered on massive construction projects that created an oligarchic class, and the devastating consequences of this approach, exemplified by the catastrophic 2023 earthquake and the government’s inadequate response.
• Hansen’s moral stance is occasionally seen as conflicted, particularly in her reluctance to fully confront issues related to religious conservatism and immigration, yet she delivers a powerful indictment of Erdoğan’s regime and its impact on democracy, freedom, and social cohesion in Turkey.
• The book serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of populist authoritarianism, illustrating how Erdoğan’s consolidation of power has left Turkey politically and economically vulnerable despite his continued grip on the country’s institutions and electoral processes.