Turkey’s strongman sets a grim standard
hannah lucinda smith
President Erdogan has inspired a generation of European populists to downgrade democracy
You may wonder why Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, continues to hold elections.
His party steals state resources for campaigning and he stamps out internal rivals with intimidation. His family and allies control most of Turkey’s television channels, and face little if any opposition in the press. In the run-up to polling day, Erdogan gets ten times more airtime than his nearest rival.
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