This phrase – but without the question mark – was uttered recently by the former speaker of the Turkish parliament, Erdogan's long-time deputy at the time when he was still prime minister. Bülent Arınç is not just a political retiree. He is a co-founder of the ruling Justice and Development Party. This gives him a lifetime opportunity to be a delegate to any party congress.

On the first day of 2026, the world media reported on a half-million-strong rally in Istanbul in support of peace in Gaza. In Ukraine, this news appeared on the most popular news site, Ukrainska Pravda. However, few people paid attention to the main purpose of this event on Galata Square. It was not about peace or Gaza. 

The historic part of the city hosted the largest presentation of the current president's younger son to his flock and voters. 

Bilal Erdoğan's media activity grew rapidly in the second half of December. He began to comment on domestic political events on pro-government television channels, but for the final presentation, Erdoğan II chose a topic that was well-publicized around the world: Gaza and the suffering of Palestinians from “world Zionism.” Bilal Erdoğan was to become the defender of Muslims in the status of sheikh-zade (crown prince). 

Thus, we are talking not just about the post of president, but de facto the vacancy of caliph of the Muslim world, which Erdoğan Sr.'s supporters have considered him to be during their idol's 23-year tenure as prime minister and president.

It was this unofficial “caliphate” mission that brought the current president's second son to the fore and removed another member of the Erdoğan family, Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar, the president's younger daughter, from participating in the operation as the “heir.”

In previous years, even Erdogan's opponents mentioned her name, hinting that a female leader representing the conservative government could soften relations between the two halves of Turkish society, which is divided almost equally between those for and against Erdogan. Sümeyye Erdoğan has had a successful career, creating a large women's public organization called KADEM (Kadın ve Demokrasi Derneği - Women and Democracy). KADEM even defended the Istanbul Convention against attacks by ultra-conservatives, explaining that the single mention of the LGBT+ community in the convention was aimed solely at protecting them from violence. However, in the early 2020s, Erdogan was preparing for a decisive election and, to gain the support of the most ardent supporters of Sharia law, withdrew Turkey from the convention. His daughter lost popularity for the sake of her father's victory. Her KADEM remained silent at the last moment about the country's withdrawal from the Convention, and Mrs. Bayraktar herself lost her halo as a progressive Muslim woman in a hijab, capable of embracing all strata of Turkey's complex society.

Her husband was also considered for the role of successor. Selçuk Bayraktar, known as the founder of a successful drone manufacturing company, became a global star after Azerbaijan's victory in the 40-day war to liberate Karabakh. His drones played a decisive role for the Azerbaijani army, and the first successes of drones in Ukraine against Russian occupiers in 2022 cemented Selçuk's position with his father-in-law.

However, hints about the possible transformation of the local Elon Musk into an heir gave rise to a bunch of memes.

Damat (Turkish for son-in-law) automatically reminds every Turk of the events of World War I. At that time, under the last sultan, Mehmed VI, the chief vizier of the country was twice the emperor's son-in-law, Ferid Pasha, who was more often called Damat Pasha - Mr. Son-in-law. Ferid's premiership became a symbol of the surrender of the remnants of the country to the interests of the occupying coalition of Great Britain, France, and Italy. After Atatürk's victory, the son-in-law was declared a traitor to his homeland and left Turkey. For almost a century, this story served as a vaccine against the disease afflicting the Eastern world, passing the state on to younger family members.

In addition to Selçuk Bayraktar, another candidate for the throne was the president's other son-in-law, Berat Albayrak.

A financier by education, Berat Albayrak headed the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources in 2015 and became Minister of Finance in 2018. The family of the president's eldest daughter, Esra, was a model of what the president promoted for the whole country. Four children, a modest wife, a bright and energetic husband. Berat was literally a carbon copy of the young Recep. However, the country continued to slide into financial ruin, and public discontent culminated in the son-in-law's resignation in November 2020, which was announced by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance on Instagram. At the same time, rumors spread online about adultery and harsh reprisals in this regard, but the president's eldest son-in-law obtained a court injunction against the dissemination of false information. After that, Berat Bey no longer appeared in public. 

The only one who did not participate in all these internal family primaries was Erdoğan's eldest son, Ahmet Burak. There are almost no photos of the president's firstborn on the internet. This is because, at the age of 19, when his father was still mayor of Istanbul, Ahmet Burak killed Turkish singer Ayşe Tanyürek while driving a car as she was crossing the road at a green light. The story is very dark. Immediately after the tragedy, the entire street was washed with special solutions, thus destroying the evidence. Erdoğan's eldest son, who did not have a driver's license, was found not guilty while abroad during the trial. The victim was found guilty, but the Turks refer to Burak Ahmet as nothing other than “Katil Burak” (i.e., Burak the killer).

The words “Turkey is not Azerbaijan” uttered by Arınç, Erdoğan's long-time ally and an experienced and cunning politician, are meant to remind the president of the evolutionary path that Turkey has taken since the days of the last sultans. Arınç described the arrest of his main rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, in equally vivid terms: “Cocks that crow too early usually get their heads cut off.” Arınç thus stated directly that İmamoğlu, who has been imprisoned since March 2025, is paying with his freedom solely for his presidential ambitions.

However, it seems that neither the criticism of the opposition nor the words of yesterday's allies have any influence on Recep Erdoğan's decisions. At present, he has chosen to crush everything that stands in the way of his power. During 2025, 62 mayors of various levels, elected from competing forces, joined his party, most of them mayors from the Republican People's Party. One can only guess at the methods used to recruit these mayors. All the transfers took place after the arrest of Imamoğlu and dozens of lower-level mayors. However, the ratings of Erdoğan's party have not changed. For the first time in more than 20 years of rule, his party lost the 2024 local elections and has been second in popularity after Atatürk's Republican People's Party for almost two years now.