Word: erdogan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...overthrow the Turkish government by force." The "Ergenekon" coup plotters apparently named their hard-core nationalist group after an idyllic valley evoked in the Turkish people's pre-Islamic founding myth. The prosecution claims they were out to unseat the Islamic-leaning government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan by sowing chaos to provide a pretext for the army to step...
...hear that case, Turkey's constitutional court is considering a no less explosive trial against the government itself. The country's chief prosecutor has petitioned the court to outlaw the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and ban 71 of its members from politics for five years - including Erdogan. Their alleged crime: trying to destroy secularism and create an Islamic state in Turkey. A decision against the AKP is widely expected in August. That could force Erdogan to step down, and his party to regroup under a new name and leadership to contest fresh elections...
...forces and the AKP, which was first elected to govern in 2002, have always been uneasy. But an extra measure of animosity has existed since April of last year, when the party sought to install one of its members, Abdullah Gul, as Turkey's President. The military objected, but Erdogan called early elections and appointed him anyway. The AKP then passed a constitutional amendment to lift a ban on head scarves in universities. Since many secularists view head scarves as a political symbol of an Islamic lifestyle, that amendment - struck down by the high court last month - became...
...Turks like Tuncay Ozkan, a 42-year-old TV executive prominent among the new generation of ardent secularist activists, Erdogan is a "fear king," whose party is "using God when it suits them" to amass power and wealth. "The AKP is like the Pied Piper," says Ozkan, who is in the process of launching a pro-secularist political party and TV station. "Everyone knows what they are really about...
...Mustafa Demir, mayor of the conservative Fatih municipality which is running the demolition program, says it's a much-needed social renewal project "to replace hovels." Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Sulukule "ugly", and expressed bewilderment over anti-demolition protests. That the neighborhood is in desperate need of a cleanup is clear, but critics accuse officials of failing to involve one of the city's oldest communities in plans for its redevelopment. Instead, the Roma have been offered two options: They can sell their property at a rate far below market prices (or face having it expropriated), or they...