On the evening of March 29, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on a Turkish TV channel explaining how a “strong Turkey” should not be afraid of an eyalet system. Eyalets were  semiautonomous provinces in the Ottoman era.

In doing so, he made reference both to contemporary developed countries and to the Ottomans. He argued that the country can preserve its unitarian system of central government along with federalism, and that this might be beneficial for a “strong Turkey.”

A new constitution is expected to pave the way for a presidential system in Turkey. Talk of combining this along with a federalism also seen in strong, developed countries is bringing many to advocate “restoration rather than reform,” and even a broader sense of neo-Ottomanism. Cinar Kiper explains this with nifty arguments. Kadri Gursel and others have dubbed this as an “elected sultan regime.”

This article will argue that it would be to the detriment of Erdogan’s legacy to further deepen authoritarianism and that it is in his interest to follow the American government model.