Today is May 15, 2023. In Turkey, yesterday was national election day. Both the presidential and parliamentary elections were held there at the same time. It was and still is the centre of attention for the international media, and for good reason, Erdogan, the president of Turkey, is the focus of this interest. People expect that he will once again meet the challenge head-on. And the imperialist world, their funded media, and their agent friends are waiting to hear that Erdogan has been defeated.

Since voting concludes at 5 p.m. on the 14th, results are awaited. Private results are still coming. However, more than 99 percent of the ballot boxes have already been counted. It showed that Erdogan's party and coalition won more than 300 out of a total of 600 parliamentary seats. On the other hand, Erdogan leads all of his presidential rivals by a significant margin. According to Turkish law, this is not enough to become president; rather, the winning candidate must receive at least more than fifty percent of the total ballots. And as of this point, Erdogan has received 49.51% of the vote. In other words, he is 0.49 percent short of the desired result. If he doesn't reach that number after all the votes are counted (unlikely because the number of votes remaining to be counted is low), then the country's constitution calls for a run-off or re-run between the two main contenders within two weeks. In any case, it is expected that by the time this text reaches Alkawsar's readers, Erdogan will have been re-elected in the second round of voting, insha'Allah.

We have written about Turkey and Recep Tayyip Erdogan a couple more times on Alkawsar. Today's short article focuses on a different issue. The main point of this article is not the Turkish election or Erdogan's victory or defeat; rather, this article has been written for the purpose of saying a couple of words about the campaign and reaction of the world media and their associate media in countries like ours. 

Over the past two decades, the media world has closely followed Tayyip Erdogan's tenure in power. They have observed his successes and the immense trust and love the people of the country have for him with a critical eye. These media outlets have not hesitated to find fault with him, often labeling him with various titles such as Sultan Erdogan, Radical Muslim, Cunning Diplomat, and Destroyer of the Secular System. One prominent issue that received significant coverage was his decision to restore the right of women civil servants to wear the hijab. Additionally, when the international conspiracy led to a decline in the price of the Turkish lira, the media intensified their criticism. They eagerly anticipated Erdogan's downfall, while not giving as much attention to global or even their own country's economic issues. Thus, long before the May 2023 election, they had been campaigning with the hope that Erdogan would lose.

In the meantime, a devastating disaster occurred in Turkey last February. Half a million people lost their lives in the terrible earthquake. Countless people became homeless. While this is unimaginably painful for Turkey and its President Erdogan, the anti-Erdogan seems to be overjoyed. They are now thinking of and promoting this as a major reason for losing the next election. Many have commented that Erdogan will delay the vote by using the earthquake. A state of emergency may be declared in the country. But by disappointing them, Erdogan said that the election would be held on time. In the end, it happened.

A couple of days before the election, I saw that the Erdogan opponents of the world were hoping. A top media outlet headlined their report, "Turkey's opposition parties dream of defeating Erdogan." This report has been translated and disseminated widely on their websites in different languages. Again, many of their associate media have also promoted it. On the day of Turkey's election, however, we did not focus on that. Because, there was news from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department that a big cyclone had formed in the Bay of Bengal. Due to this, there was a risk of extensive erosion in the coastal districts. At Cox's Bazar Beach, there was a big danger signal number 10. For natural reasons, the Muslims of this country were praying to Allah to save the lives and property of their fellow countrymen. However, by the mercy of Allah Ta'ala, the damage was much less than what was feared. Allah saved us. All praise is due to the Almighty God.

When the results of Turkey's elections were recalled in the morning of May 15, it seemed that those who were active until yesterday are very silent today. However, some news must be given. Finally trying to cover up the shame, the news headlines - 'Erdogan's fate is hanging', and Erdogan doesn't get fifty percent of votes'. Some more such irresponsible words are said. For the past few years, I have felt that the people of this class have more problems with Erdogan than the people of his country. Turkey's election is more important to them than Erdogan and the opposition. But why? We will end this article by finding the answer to this question.

Even Erdogan's staunchest opponents acknowledge that Turkey has made remarkable progress in the past two decades under his leadership. Turkey's economy has reached unprecedented heights. Thousands of schools-colleges-universities have been established. He has advocated for Turkey from the forefront of international diplomacy. He has brought back the lost honour and tradition of the Turkish nation. After that, why so much opposition to Erdogan? Why are they so angry at Erdogan's popularity and repeated victories? The answer to this question is very clear. That is, it is not primarily opposed to Erdogan, but hostility towards Islam. Once, Turkey ruled over vast areas of Arab and non-Arab for hundreds of years. In the early 20th century, that country was completely stripped of its Muslim character. Islam, Islamic educational institutions—they tried to erase the name of everything. The country's Turkish language alphabet (similar to Arabic) was also changed. Even the sound of the Azan was changed. In the name of so-called secularism, Muslims were prevented from practicing their religion even privately. For almost another half century, associates of those secularists—the army and judges—continued to torture the people of Turkey at their will. And at the same time, the country's economy has fallen into ruin.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his predecessors have helped reform Turkey in such a situation. They could not introduce Islamic law in Turkey, but he is at least promising to restore the lost traditions of Muslims. Giving them the opportunity to study and practise religion at the individual level. Although there is still secularism in constitution, Turkey stands tall in international organisations in the favour of the persecuted Muslims in the world. This is the root cause of the burning of the anti-Islamic world media and their cronies in a country like ours.

In fact, no matter what they say in their mouths, their hearts are telling them why Turkey is standing tall again in the world. Something like the Ottoman Sultanate will not come back? Why are government officials allowed to wear hijabs? Why are they allowed to keep beards? Why was the form of Aya Sophia mosque returned? Why Turkish President spoke for Kashmir, Palestine, and more such things. They may not say it directly in many cases. Then another topic is brought up. For example, Turkey's economy is going very badly. But the report does not admit - the country's economy was improved at whose hands? And how much has gotten worse after getting better?

It is pity to see the hustle and bustle of the executives of a newspaper in Bangladesh. Before the election, they cried so much in writing, as if through their writings, the Turkish people will decide to vote against Erdogan. Those who do not have the courage to talk openly about their own country's politics, voting policy, economy, etc. are busy trying to change the president of a foreign country. A gentleman writer of that newspaper wrote, "Will the opposition succeed in bringing Erdogan to justice like Morsi?" Well, does that great gentleman know anything about Morsi? Was Morsi actually brought to justice, or did the ‍all lords of these writers assassinate him through a general? Was there at least some justification for removing the first elected president in Egypt's history? Wasn't this writer ten years old at that time? Or the writer was blind-deaf? In fact, the title you give them will waste both your words and ink. So let their writings remain uncommented. Later, I heard that the title of the article was changed because of the pressure from online readers.

Sometimes I laugh and feel mercy for that magazine and its authorities. I remember their going to Baitul Mukarram's Khatib Saheb and reading tauba-istigfar after the Alpin-incident; going to the court and asking for forgiveness repeatedly; publishing a series of reports on the Padma bridge to avoid going to jail; and many more!

However, it seems that the hopes of the anti-Islamic powers of the world and their allies in the country are not being fulfilled this time. Erdogan remains in the presidency again. May Allah grant him more success in the days ahead for Islam, Muslims, and Turkey's development and restoring its lost status. This will cause ashes to fall on the face of the enemy. There will be no need to scold or abuse them separately.

Translated by Alauddin Rafiq