I sometimes think how much Erdogan has changed. When I first met him twenty years ago, I felt that in front of me was a very powerful “political beast”. But I could not imagine that he would be the person who would completely rule Turkey and become a major world player. The distance he covered in those twenty years is unimaginable. In our first interview, I had to wait for a Turkish man at the office of the party in an old apartment building in a popular area of ​​the city. He himself sat in an armchair, and around him women in headscarves drank tea and told him their problems. In the latter, protocol required that we walk a long distance before meeting for a televised handshake in the huge living room of a superb palace.

Many people ask what is in the interests of Greece? To be re-elected or not. What I know for sure is that the early Erdogan was a big opportunity for Greece and Cyprus. At the time, he actively played the European card because it was popular in Turkey and also because he used it as a tool to eradicate the deep state, military and security services. And since it was the Deep State that had always pushed tensions with Greece, its own agenda was quite different. With a little courage of the politicians of the time, solutions could have been found without gray areas, demilitarization and other issues firmly rooted in the list of Turkish obsessions.

If the leader of the opposition is elected, Americans and Europeans will be very tolerant of everything. Think about how they will deal with Turkey, no matter how provocative it may be.

Today’s Erdogan has fallen into the arms of the deep state and its far-right partners. There is no European point of view. On the contrary, inflammatory statements against Europe and the US are extremely popular. Greece and Cyprus may not have been on his mind twenty years ago, but they are today. And not only in his. Much poison has been spilled on Turkish public opinion and the revisionist agenda is popular and dominates the political landscape.

So Erdogan or Kilicdaroglu, if you think purely in Greek? Erdogan for a reason, as cynical as it sounds to those of us who feel the anguish of many Turkish friends suffocating in recent years. If Kilicdaroglu is elected, Americans and Europeans will be very tolerant of everything. They do this to Erdogan when he challenges them on Russia or other important issues. Think, if he loses, how they will deal with Turkey, no matter how difficult they are. We will soon find out whether Erdogan will complete his circle with triumph or become another leader trapped in shame.