"Turkey’s ‘local guy’
By Vincent Boland
Published: July 20 2007 19:54 | Last updated: July 20 2007 19:54
T he well-funded whizz-kids who organise election campaigns for Turkey’s Justice and Development party (AKP), which is seeking to be returned to office in Sunday’s general election, really do think of everything. A few days ago, as the temperature headed for 40°C before a rally in the Aegean city of Izmir, they turned on a sort of outdoor air-conditioning system they had installed along the Kordon, the city’s seaside promenade.
It sprayed a fine, cooling mist over the 10,000-strong crowd awaiting an appearance by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister and party leader. He was already several hours late, but that seemed only to heighten the sense of anticipation. Mr Erdogan is a hero to the AKP’s true believers, and even in laid-back, defiantly secular Izmir – the only big city in Turkey the party does not control – there were enough of them to give this Islamist-turned-statesman a rock star-like reception when he finally showed up."
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