The barracks project is of great personal significance to Erdogan, an uncompromising leader who is determined to re-establish the prominence of Islam in Turkey. In 1909, Islamic Ottoman soldiers were repressed by revolutionary nationalists. In the 1990s, Erdogan and other Islamic-leaning politicians were also repressed by nationalists, most significantly the underground members of the ultra-nationalist "Ergenekon" movement. In the last few years of AKP rule, there has been a slew of Ergenekon trials aimed at taking revenge on those who tried to bring down the AKP during the 1990s.

Erdogan sees himself as a neo-Ottoman leader who honours the Islamic heroes of Ottoman history in order to celebrate the return of Islamic leadership in modern Turkey. He recreates elements of the Ottoman past to show that the pendulum has swung: the decades of military-backed nationalist control are over, and Erdogan can say: "We've won." The most striking way to express that is through changing the landscape of Istanbul, rebranding a previously secular square of great historical importance with an overtly religious renovation project. 

In 1999 Erdogan was sent to prison for reciting a poem which was regarded as an "incitement to commit offence". It included the lines: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers." Perhaps in recent years the overlapping images of mosques and barracks have made an impression on him. Last year, in suitably Sultan-esque style, he announced plans to build an enormous mosque on Çamlica Hill in Istanbul, to be visible from any point in the city. If he persists in this project after the debacle of Gezi Park, I hope we will see a return of the tree-hugging troublemakers throwing themselves in front of bulldozers.