Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party AKP (Justice and Development Party) have been in power since 2002 in Türkiye. Erdogan now controls the judiciary and the media. There is massive disinformation. There are widespread human rights violations, and corruption. There has been a progressive erosion of secularism and democracy. Elections have many times been declared unfair by international organisations.

Concepts such as populism, right-wing populism, neoliberal authoritarianism, neo patrimonialism, competitive authoritarianism, permanent state of emergency, neoliberal authoritarianism are used to describe governments like Erdogan’s.

I believe that psychoanalytic theory provides valuable insights into the Erdogan phenomenon. Erdogan promotes a split view of the world like culturally alienated small elite vs uncorrupted real people; the representatives of the established order; homebred vs foreign-bred; patriots vs non-patriots; enemies vs friends; the pious vs the sinner. This paranoid-schizoid world view has two main functions.

One function is that it simplifies the world and this simplification although fills the world with threatening enemies relieves people from the confusion they experience towards the world. Its other function is that it helps people positively regulate their self-esteem in two ways. First one is that it validates their primitive way of thinking, and the second is that it idealises their way of living, and beliefs.

Erdogan pictures himself as a very strong leader. People identify with this image and feel stronger and more secure in the world. It’s interesting that Erdogan also pictures himself as a victim. These two images seem to contradict each other but the image of the victim facilitates people’s identification with Erdogan because it matches with their devalued parts of their selves and eases their shame about them. It even turns shame into pride.

In my presentation I also would like to talk about how it is like for apsychiatrist/psychoanalyticly oriented therapist live in such an environment.