"Chicanery in Turkey
The AKP is crying foul over the attempt to rule it unconstitutional, but it too has been playing fast and loose with democracy
The Justice and Development party has been rightly regarded, until very recently, as one of the most successful political movements in Europe. While other Turkish parties neglected the grassroots, the AKP built up a stronger and stronger following among ordinary Turks in the country's rapidly expanding cities. It did so in part because of its emphasis on the Islamic values with which these voters, many of them still influenced by the traditional ways of the countryside from which they, or their parents, had come, were comfortable. Equally important was hard organisational work, and the fact that, long before it achieved national power, the party was providing many poor and disadvantaged people with the welfare services reflected in its current title."
More:Martin Woollacott: The AK party is hardly the innocent victim in Turkey | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
