From Ottoman Slap to Turkish Snap
May 4, 2018 Written by Daniel Metz ANKARA – In February of this year, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stood before members of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), and with a fiery disposition and aggressive rhetoric, he aroused the nationalist sentiments of those in attendance. “It’s clear that those who say, ‘We’ll respond if they hit us,’ have never in their lives received an Ottoman slap,” he said, referring to the legendary Ottoman soldiers who were said to practice open-handed slaps on blocks of marble and could crack a man’s skull in battle. The metaphor works well for the strongman persona Erdoğan has cultivated, with recurrent themes of hostility towards the West and an underdog Turkey rising against its supposed enemies. It’s with this kind of rallying cry that Erdoğan hopes to swing the electorate in his favor in late June.
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