Abused child Erdogan grew into a man who believes ‘minarets are our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers” – and Europe is theirs.
You are not the son of a Bank of Italy manager like Mario Draghi, of a neurology professor like Emmanuel Macron, of a CDU politician like Ursula Von Der Leyen, of a ministerial executive like Pedro Sánchez, of an academic like Magdalena Andersson or of a European commissioner like Charles Michel, just to name a few European leaders.
No, you are the son of a poor, overbearing sailor whose shoes you kissed to display respect and who, when you offended a neighbor, hung you from the ceiling as punishment; you are a child who was selling bread and lemons on the street corners of the popular and infamous Kasimpasa neighborhood in Istanbul, where as a boy you were already known as the “Big Brother,” you who would become the head of the Muslim Brotherhood.
