Erdogan's Slap in the Face of All Turks
Posted: 05/22/2014 3:54 pm EDT Updated: 05/22/2014 3:59 pm EDT
Christos Tsiolkas set his novel "The Slap" at a barbecue in suburban Melbourne. But a version of his story of patriarchal violence has been played out in the Turkish village of Soma, scene of the mining disaster last week that killed more than 300. The country is abuzz at suggestions that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the prime minister, followed a protester into a supermarket and slapped him. True or not, it is telling that not even Erdoğan's advocates find it implausible. There is a sense that, given his mercurial personality, such a thing could well have happened. In a video recorded on the same day, Erdoğan is heard warning: "If you boo this country's prime minister, you get a slap."
More:Erdogan's Slap in the Face of All Turks | Elif Shafak