"TURKEY: AS LOCAL ELECTIONS APPROACH, GOVERNING PARTY’S POPULARITY APPEARS TO BE SLIPPING
Greg Bruno 3/15/09
The village of Yatir is a dusty outpost along Turkey’s southern border where political promises are measured in buckets, donkeys, and sweat.
After a spike in natural gas prices sent electricity costs soaring nationwide last summer, Mehmet Altan, the local leader, cut power to Yatir’s only pump station. Donkeys were dispatched to nearby irrigation canals to haul water for the 110 families under Altan’s watch. 'We didn’t pay the electricity bill so they cut the electricity,' Altan explained as he sat surrounded by a dozen or more village men under a scorching midday sun. 'The state doesn’t really care about the villagers,' Altan said through an interpreter. 'They don’t care about us.'"
More:EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Turkey: As Local Elections Approach, Governing Party's Popularity Appears to be Slipping
