Word: erdogan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...issue at the World Economic Forum on Europe and Central Asia, which begins on Oct. 30 in Istanbul. While Turkey has reason to blame its worsening economic outlook on the rest of the world, some of its woes are self-inflicted. The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) set about transforming the economy after its election in 2002. Spurred on by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provided financial support during the 2001 crisis, the government pushed through strict budgets, monetary discipline and a big privatization campaign. Inflation and interest rates tumbled, and growth...
...This lost opportunity stems from the government's battle with its political opponents in the army and the judiciary, who have been enraged by Erdogan's attacks on Turkey's secular traditions - including his attempt to lift a ban on women wearing head scarves at university. Erdogan easily returned to power in a snap election he called in July 2007 in response to a possible coup threat by the army. This July, the AKP won a court case brought by the nation's chief prosecutor, who sought to outlaw the party on the grounds that it was antisecular. But these...
...divisive - for the pious, it's a matter of religious freedom; for the secularists, it symbolizes a political movement they insist threatens their lifestyle. The government's approach to the issue - introducing the change overnight, with no public debate - was widely criticized, and it spurred the prosecutor into action. Erdogan recently conceded mistakes may have been made...
...trial had been widely seen as the final chapter in an ongoing showdown between the AKP and the secularist establishment, particularly in the military and the courts. A military attempt to stare down Erdogan last year over the nomination of his own party's Abdullah Gul for President backfired: Erdogan called snap elections and was returned to power with 47% of the vote, an even greater margin than from when he was first elected. This time, it was the turn of the judiciary to lead the charge for secularism...
...Turkey can ill afford a repeat of the court saga or continued and potentially explosive polarization; it would seem that Erdogan has little other option. Building broad social consensus may also be his only real guarantee against the secularist old guard, who have stepped in with military coups and judicial decisions against elected governments in the past, and may yet do so again. So while today's verdict was a victory for the government, it was also a warning...