Unless he wants to declare Martial Law to go to war with Russia and Iran I'm not sure why he would want this?
New York Times -
ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey,
who is pushing to imbue the largely ceremonial presidency with sweeping
executive powers akin to the United States or France, gave a new
example of an effective presidential system on Thursday: Hitler’s
Germany.
After
returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Erdogan was asked by the
Turkish news media whether a presidential system was possible given that
the government is now organized under a prime minister.
“There are already examples in the world,” Mr. Erdogan said. “You can see it when you look at Hitler’s Germany.”
He did not elaborate.
Hitler,
who became chancellor of Germany in 1933, assumed the presidency in
1934, a move that allowed him to consolidate power, becoming the Führer.
Mr.
Erdogan became Turkey’s first popularly elected president in August
2014, having dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade as prime
minister. Since assuming the new post, he has aggressively campaigned to
rewrite the Turkish Constitution and establish an executive system of
government.
His
consolidation of power has had a potent effect on Turkish society.
Critics say Mr. Erdogan’s divisive rhetoric, in which he has denigrated
opponents as terrorists or traitors, has helped polarize the country.
A government crackdown on dissent — including a growing campaign of intimidation against the opposition news media, with a mob of his supporters attacking newspaper offices ahead of the November election — has raised concerns domestically and abroad about Turkey’s commitment to democracy.
To
change the Constitution, Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party,
which regained its parliamentary majority in November, needs support
from opposition parties, who fear that such a system would consolidate
too much power in Mr. Erdogan’s hands.
Last
week, Turkey’s main opposition party said it would back some changes to
an outdated Constitution, which was drawn up by the military after a
1980 coup, but it does not support an all-powerful presidential system
envisioned by Mr. Erdogan.
Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the leader of Turkey’s main opposition
party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, that a presidential system would not lead to a
dictatorship.
“What
is right for Turkey is to adopt the presidential system in line with
the democratic spirit,” he said in a television interview this week.
“This system will not evolve into dictatorship, but if we do not have
this spirit, even the parliamentary system can turn into this
dictatorship.”
On
Thursday, there was little reaction to Mr. Erdogan’s comments, which
were made late in the day. Part of that may be attributed to nervousness
about insulting the president, which could bring a jail term, and part
to the quiet of the New Year’s holiday.
Still, some people reacted on social media.
“Let’s
do a close comparison between Hitler and Erdogan,” one person wrote on
Twitter. “The only difference is that Hitler was a bit shorter.”
People also shared a Photoshopped picture of Hitler with Mr. Erdogan’s face superimposed on it.
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