Turks' Existential Resentment, The Key To Erdoğan's Success?

This piece written by Selim Koru for The Atlantic was published before the Turkish presidential elections this Sunday, but it is relevant more than ever to understand the results. 

Yesterday, Erdoğan proclaimed himself president of Turkey before the official results were out. His people were already celebrating his victory on the streets. On previous days, polls had predicted a second round that never happened. Today, Erdoğan holds the presidency he designed, and that will allow him to reshape Turkey over the next decade. 

What it is interesting about Koru's piece is the alternative explanation that he offers to Erdoğan's success. While many point at his Islamist appeals, nationalism and anti-Western sentiment, Koru suggests looking at Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of ressentiment: 

"an existential resentment of other people’s being, caused by an intense mix of envy and sense of humiliation and powerlessness”.

A culture of self-pity, he says, that has been exploited by Mr President. He who has created an image of Turkishness always threatened by the West, forcing them into a never-ending competition.

"The Erdoğan government appears far more interested in things like Islamophobia in Europe and the Israel–Palestine conflict, which give it an opportunity to face off against the West. Islamism here is not an operating principle: It is a host ideology to ressentiment."