Turkish Leader Erdogan Making New Enemies and Frustrating Old Friends
They were celebrating the 15th-century conquest of Istanbul by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, the golden moment of Turkey’s Muslim ancestors triumphing over the Christian West.
.. Where Mr. Erdogan once held up Turkey as a model of Muslim democracy, he now frequently attacks democratic institutions.
.. The editor in chief of Turkey’s largest daily has fled the country, and another is on trial on charges of revealing state secrets. The president has grown intolerant of criticism, purging his oldest allies from his inner circle and replacing them with yes men and, in some cases, relatives.
.. Mr. Erdogan hints darkly in near-daily speeches on Turkish television that foreign powers are plotting to destroy him
.. Now he has set his sights on a new target: transforming Turkey’s parliamentary system of government into a presidential one, a change his critics say could soon open the door to his seizing the title of president for life.
.. the Parliament, which his party controls, worked until 5:45 a.m. to pass sweeping legislation that will help pave the way by purging hundreds of judges from Turkey’s top two courts.
.. Mr. Erdogan, 62, is one of the most talented politicians Turkey has ever known
.. his critics — and even some of his admirers — say he became so absorbed in battling his enemies, both real and perceived, that he lost his way.
.. Even a former friend, who like others feared being identified, said he had known Mr. Erdogan for 40 years, but no longer recognized him.
..To gain control of Turkey’s bureaucracy, Mr. Erdogan struck an alliance with an opaque religious group led by a Muslim preacher, Fethullah Gulen, filling the ranks of the police and the judiciary with its highly educated members...As Mr. Erdogan grew more popular, winning broad pluralities and even majorities in each successive election, he began to behave with a kind of Bolshevism, believing that he was the very embodiment of the people, former officials said...Others argue that Turkey’s problems are as much about the country as they are about Mr. Erdogan... even though we have the hardware of democracy — institutions, elections — our software is not good. We are too attuned to status, too willing to submit to authority.”