I totally agree with your statement. Exactly the words of a Turkish friend of mine. Unfotunately, it seems that too much power is spoiling the character of many politicians (not just in Middle East)... @ IM I'm soooo surprised to see you not being a fan of Erdogan anymore. Improving the economic situation alone (what isn't solely his very own merit, btw.), is not the only criterion to be judged as president of a country.
I know, and I also know how this country looked 30 years ago and how relatively well our situation is compared to all our neighbor countries. Erdogan has been a bit cocky lately but he's still much better than the opposition and has improved more than only the economical situation. Even when he had so much power, who cares? Are we in war? Are we facing a huge economic crisis? The only ones that are against him in Turkey are either the opposition or hipsters.
Turkey has always been in a better situation than its neighbors. if that's your comparison. If that's the aspiration, than be it. AKP has done great things in the past for the favor of the country. Taking the power from military and giving it to the people, stabilizing the bank and financial infrastructure of the country therefore stabilizing the economy, giving out a hand to the Kurdish minority were the big three major successes of AKP. These are a fact. However. You can not tell me that, they are becoming more and more oppressive. This is the issue. Even if you are one of them and from their party, and you slightly criticize something they have done, you are immediately shown a red card. They have no tolerance to any critization, protest etc. If you do so, police can take you away, lock you up, and that's it. If that's the kind of country you would like to have, then I have no words for you. And they have also started to publicly speak about their agenda nowadays. Maybe you heard of it. Did you hear about the student homes being searched by police to make sure that the apartment tenants are either all guys or all girls? Or an AKP spokesman coming out and saying, schools should be separated by sex, it will be better for the country? Can you also guarantee that we will not give 1/4th of the country in the near future? But oh yes, it doesn't matter, this is all hipster talk, economy is booming....
Things not going well for the current government: http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/25/world/europe/turkey-resignations/
I managed to just miss out on the latest round of protests starting up (a week ago Sunday). This set of scandals was huge news the whole week I was there earlier. It's really fascinating to talk to people there about it.
Events in the Ukraine have overshadowed alleged corruption in Turkey: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/leaked-tapes-calls-erdogan-resign-turkish-pm Conveniently dubbed into English! http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/turkish-pm-corruption-youtube-recep-tayyip-erdogan
The shoe box affair was hilarious. A bankster getting caught at hording money in a shoe box is slapstick humor at its best. Erdogan and the AKP are no genius saviours of the Turkish economy. They may be applauded for freeing the country from the chains of an unhealthy influence of the military as well as chopping down an old, grown system of curruption. Yet Turkey has been waiting in the starting block and Erdogan sure knew how to ride this fresh wave most opportunistically. His years as major sure prepared him for the pragmatic aspects of politics. However idiologically his AKP is showing more and more true colors. Their views concerning rights of women (obligatory headscarf), individual freedom (no puclic kissing in subways, integration of religion into the jurisdiction) or freedom of speech (Internet laws in the making which rival China in rigidness, journalists harrased/sentenced by officials at will) are more than alarming. The mere fact that a rather small incident like Gezi park caused authorities to go into Rambo mode shows how convicted Erdogan and his AKP actually are in order to push their agenda. I rest assured that in the end it is still about the money (= curruption) once again (eventhough the social topics are gonna cause more media uproar)
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/03/31/why-turkeys-elections-may-not-matter You also need to realize that most of the USA is currently distracted from politics by college & professional basketball & hockey. Mention Sevastopol, and someone's likely to ask if he is playing for the Canadiens.
Well, when criticism of the government is first categorized as disinformation and then criminalized as aiding terrorism or inciting violence, it's unsurprising. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_arrested_journalists_in_Turkey#Grounds_for_prosecution
The major thing that wins votes is economics. AKP simply has now competitors when it comes to that department. Erdogan has transformed Turkey into a powerful country with a large, diversified and vibrant economy. Even with Twitter and Youtube shutdown and other questionable things, the AKP is pretty sustainable and will sit comfortably in power for many decades to come. For better or for worse.
But mainly for the better. The AKP is not perfect but its record in government is far far better than the CHP, the military or other alternatives. The vast majority of people are far more free now than they were under the aforementioned.
Were the elections fair? http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0407/Turks-faith-in-the-ballot-box-falters
Mining tragedy. Almost 300 reported dead, 150 still missing. http://abcnews.go.com/International...rkish-town-miners-died-23715053?pt=BureoF1GVB
RIP http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/15/turkey-mine-disaster-aid-pm-pictures-kicking-protester
Horrible incident. RIP to all victims. And Mr. Erdogan once again shows his true (ugly) face. But well, it seems he enjoys pissing off more and more Turks...