Political power prevails over companionship

Politics is the art of managing people. Each event may vary at any time. All kinds of deceptions occur in this system where people try to eliminate each other just for the sake of having chair status. The people who were once regarded as “fellows” may turn into a “betrayer” in time. The law of fellowship in politics is temporary; the objective is important as long as it provides advantages. A chair, on the other hand, is the place from which one can serve the citizens, but it should definitely belong to whoever has the position. 
 
Faithlessness in politics, various examples of which can be seen often in history, is being experienced today. The best example of this is with the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Rumors have spread within the AKP due to its three periods of rule and the election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as president. A silent fight between “beginners” and such important figures of the AKP as Bülent Arınç and Abdullah Gül has become known by the public. 
 
During the 12 years of AKP government, Erdoğan eliminated and factionalized the figures he once called “joiners of parties” as he became powerful. The ones, on the other hand, who accompanied him from the very beginning and witnessed the establishment of the party, they have given up their positions to new figures. 
 
It has been reported that Erdoğan discarded many figures who have made contributions to the AKP since the year 2001. According to what is being said behind the scenes, the fate of Gül will be the same. Rumors indicating that Gül, who said that he would return to his party after the presidential election, would act as a “wise man” rather than dealing with active politics, brought the AKP back into focus again. The AKP has undergone many political traumas since 2001. However, the struggle between Erdoğan and Gül is the most critical. 

Though he is recognized as a person who protects his team, Erdoğan indeed discharged many figures in his 13 years. The following are some of these figures described as having surpassed their one use: 

 
Abdüllatif Şener: The most important founding figures of the AKP were Erdoğan, Gül and Arınç. Abdüllatif Şener, on the other hand, was the fourth name on that list. Acting as the deputy prime minister and the minister of finance, Şener had a different method of approaching politics prior to the election held in 2007, and then he was discarded. Şener ranked among the staff officers of the reformists who founded the AKP. However, he was a different figure in the government. He raised an objection to the Galataport tender. He explained his opposing ideas with respect to such delicate matters as secularism, the headscarf and presidential elections. His word about wine became clichés. Some of them attributed this to his being Circassian, while some others thought that this was because of his “partially communist side.” He was praised by the opposition parties while he was slowly removed from the decision-making mechanisms of his party. The leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) at the time, Deniz Baykal, said, “We may think of Şener for president.” He surprised everybody by not being a candidate for the July 22 elections in 2007. After the closure case of another party, he completely separated from the AKP.   

Bülent Arınç: Being one of the most important founders of the AKP, Deputy Prime Minister and AKP spokesman Arınc is experiencing his weakest period. Since he is a figure who even young delegates ridicule through social networking sites, Arınç is counting the days until his retirement. It was also revealed that there was tension between Arınc and Erdoğan because the former was not considered for an appointment. Arınc allegedly told Erdoğan, “I should not have been disregarded and turned into a sandbag.”  
  
Ertuğrul Yalçınbayır and Ertuğrul Günay: Ranking among the legist founders of the AKP, Ertuğrul Yalçınbayır acted as the general secretary and deputy prime minister. Yalçınbayır claimed that “partisanship, fanaticism, servility, corruption and insinuation increased” within the AKP; he started to be excluded after a while, and then he resigned from the party. Former Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs Ertuğrul Günay and his team were transferred to the post in the year 2007 under a “left initiative.” When Günay failed to meet the demands of the party, he was discredited. Resigning from the AKP by saying, “I cannot applaud oppression and I never support cruelty,” Günay reported that he would proceed in politics as an independent deputy thereafter. He said the following about then-Prime Minister Erdoğan: “He never gave up from being the mayor of İstanbul. All these high buildings were constructed upon his instructions.” Günay added: “I tried to tell the prime minister many times that this building impairs the historical silhouette of İstanbul and its construction should be suspended.” Erdoğan's answer to this was as follows: “You are restraining everything [development] by citing history each time.” 
 
Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat: Once the most powerful second-in-command of the AKP, a founding party member as well as former general vice president, Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat was also discarded when he “expired” just like the others. Fırat explained his resignation from the AKP as follows: 

I resigned from the duties of chairman of the Central Government Committee, president of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, party spokesman and member of the Central Decision Management Committee. I do not find [specific policies of the party] ethical. Being a member of a party requires one to follow the rules of that party. But now, I conclude that people should share what they have kept to themselves with the public. Therefore, I broke away from the party.”
 
İdris Naim Şahin: Having known Erdoğan for some 40 years, since his religious high school years, and acting as the general secretary of the municipality when Erdoğan was the mayor of İstanbul, İdris Naim Şahin was firstly dismissed from his duty as a minister; he was a victim of the resolution process. Later on, he had a disagreement with Erdoğan during the local elections in a previous year. Breaking away from the AKP during the Dec. 17 and 25 corruption operations by claiming that the AKP had adopted a narrow oligarchic structure, Şahin became the target of Erdoğan. Erdoğan claimed that there was a tape of Şahin and the former minister was afraid of its disclosure and, therefore, he broke away from the party. Şahin responded to such claims on TV: “The prime minister should first decide whether I resigned because I am not a candidate for mayor or because there is a tape about me. I think our dear prime minister is very busy with this tape matter. I am saying: Nobody said anything to me about such a tape. I was not informed about it and nobody blackmailed me. The prime minister thinks that this is the reason for my resignation. If he knows something, this means that he conceals the truth. He should notify the prosecutor's office. To me, this also seems to be just a lie. He claims that I quit the party because I am afraid. Everybody knows, even the separatist terrorist organizations and Erdoğan knows, how brave I am. As to the tape, I have some cassettes of me singing folk songs like ‘Ordu'nun Dereleri,' ‘Hekimoğlu,' etc. … There is no piece of blackmail or tape, to the contrary of what the prime minister claims.” 

The enemies of the past make peace 

The ones insulting Erdoğan and humiliating the policies of the AKP will take their seats in the council of ministers and act as deputy prime ministers together with the counselors. Even the party congress date was timed with the presidential inauguration ceremony in order not to include Gül -- though who was the first founder and first prime minister of the AKP? Who was the president who approved every single law given to him? This change shows that the layer of fat around Erdoğan has started to change. New members are acting in exactly the same way as those who are reviled in history to defend the new period. It is obvious that the boot will be on the other foot in the current Cabinet and party.  
  
The supporters of the AKP who have been proceeding together since the very beginning will gradually be discharged. A new team will try to carry on down the path. However, what is desired is not the existence of the party, but for Erdoğan to be the governmental tool behind the cult of a single figure. But whatever way they try to do so, these interests come to light in the conflict of generations, While Erdoğan announced that he is master, he regarded his old fellows as apprentices. He proceeds on his way together with these fellows, partisans, lackeys and even opposers who have all adapted themselves to his path.