Going cold on Turkey
An internal power-struggle further dents Turkey’s hopes of joining the European Union
Jan 18th 2014
IN ANOTHER era, tanks might now be on the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. Over the past year Turkey has seen a crackdown on protests, corruption scandals, a purge of the police and judiciary, paranoid talk of foreign plots and fifth columns, an economic slowdown and more attempts to Islamicise society. Given this turmoil, Turkey’s soldiers would no doubt be tempted to sweep aside the failed politicians (as they have done four times in the past). That the generals have remained in barracks—or, in many cases, in jail—is a sign of democratic progress. But after years of strong growth and political reform, Turkey is sliding backwards, with more than a whiff of authoritarianism about the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist-flavoured AK party has been in power since November 2002.
More:Charlemagne: Going cold on Turkey | The Economist
