Turkey: challenges to Erdoğan
The earthquakes in Turkey and Syria at the beginning of February laid bare the failures of Erdoğan’s rule in Turkey. This was not simply a freak act of nature that could not have been predicted: Turkish seismologists have been warning of a coming earthquake in this area for years, but the special earthquake tax collected to build robust infrastructure was merely used to line the pockets of the corrupt construction bosses. On 14 May, Turkey will hold parliamentary and presidential elections. This is the biggest electoral challenge Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has faced since...