"Eastern Star
Turkey’s prime minister has become a hero in the middle east for standing up to the west. But Islam isn’t what’s driving him.
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Umit Bektas / Reuters-Landov
Gambling may be forbidden in Islam, but that hasn’t kept Turkey’s prime minister from being both a devout Muslim and a top-stakes player. Since the 2002 landslide vote that brought him to power, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rolled the dice repeatedly against Turkey’s establishment—the committedly secular military and judiciary who have tried to ban him and his party for being too Islamic. And he keeps winning: in each general election and referendum, popular support for his Justice and Development Party (AKP) has never slipped. Last weekend, Erdogan placed another big bet: a referendum on redrawing Turkey’s Constitution to lessen the military’s influence. The question, as it has always been, is whether Erdogan has a mandate to remake Turkey in his own image."
More:Should Turkey's Erdogan Worry the West? - Newsweek
