Erdogan, Gulen, His Palace, His Compound

Citizen — Emperor — Erdogan has found a way, he thinks, to deflect attention from his billion-dollar pleasure-palace, built in the worst possible taste, and that is to encourage others to focus on the supposedly luxurious estate, in rural Pennsylvania, of his arch-enemy and onetime supporter Fethuleh Gulen. But Gulen does not live in such a palace, Gulen is, according to reports, a recluse and an ascetic, and this must drive Erdogan crazy.

Which dictator does Erdgoan most resemble? In his comical mauvais-gout building of a palace, he reminds me of Nicolae Ceausescu, who– unlike Erdogan —  lived in a comparatively modest home (I once visited it, and admired the chemical laboratory his wife, who had pretensions as a scientist, had set up) but did order the construction of his excruciating 

palace of the people. On the other hand, in his comical dreams of glory, his swaggering, his endless rhodomontade, he reminds one of Idi Amin — as channeled by Alan Coren in The Bulletins of Idi Amin.

Yes, a cross between Nicolae Ceausescu and Idi Amin — that’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

And do you remember how they ended up?