Epstein Secrets

egedly telling his son to hide large sums of money has created a crisis for the once-unassailable leader just weeks before key elections. 2.27.14 ISTANBUL-It was Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 60th birthday this week, but the Turkish Prime Minister could be forgiven for not being in the mood for celebrations.

dential election expected in August. Erdogan's aides say the electorate is so far unmoved by the corruption allegations, and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) enjoys a strong lead in opinion polls. But the pressure on Erdogan is unlikely to diminish until polling day in March. Gulen's movement "want

onflicts with neighbors but also to offer its good offices to mediate conflict to which it is not a party. Its credibility has become so great that Istanbul has replaced European capitals as the preferred venue for conflict resolution whether in relation to Afghanistan or even Iran. It is notable that d

when the Turkish government refused to allow the United States to use its territory to stage an invasion of Iraq. At the time the anti-Justice and Development Party (AKP) opposition called the decision the biggest mistake in Turkish republican history. In retrospect, it was a transformational moment that showed

cial democrat Republican People's Party (known as CHP, for its Turkish initials), polling 26 percent nationwide. CHP was unable to wrest control of Istanbul from AKP and even in Ankara, where the incumbent AKP mayor appeared weak, the two parties' candidates just about tied, and votes are still being co

Erdogan's increasingly autocratic and anti-democratic rule, gave him the results he needed to continue to promote his own agenda. His Justice and Development Party (known by its Turkish initials, AKP) won 43 percent of the vote nationally, with the strongest rival, the social democrat Republican People's Party

omic Forum in Davos is a case in point. Erdogan accused Peres of "knowing well how to kill," and then stormed off the stage and boarded a plane to Istanbul. He returned to a hero's welcome. The highly publicized spat earned the AKP a badly needed boost ahead of local elections in March 2009. Erdogan's

y southeast have featured most prominently in the campaigning, Turkey's foreign policy has emerged as a central rallying point for the Justice and Development Party (AKP). But the populist streak that has given a boost to the party's support over the past years has also had consequences for relations with longt

k in a way Turkey has become a victim of its own self- EFTA_R1_00225766 EFTA01840710 image," said Soli Ozel, an international relations expert at Istanbul's Kadir Has University. "For six or seven months, Turkey tried its best to get Assad to change, and the allies waited for Turkey to deliver." Prim

e entire world, and countries that remain silent and indifferent and ignore or tolerate the massacre in Syria," he told deputies of his Justice and Development Party in parliament. "I am also addressing international organizations, which cannot produce solutions to this crisis and which encourage its continuati

nflicts with neighbors but also to offer its good offices to mediate conflict to which it is not a party. Its credibility has become so great that Istanbul has replaced European capitals as the preferred venue for conflict resolution whether in relation to Afghanistan or even Iran. It is notable that d

when the Turkish government refused to allow the United States to use its territory to stage an invasion of Iraq. At the time the anti-Justice and Development Party (AKP) opposition called the decision the biggest mistake in Turkish republican history. In retrospect, it was a transformational moment that showed

verywhere in Turkey, it seems, are signs that the EFTA_R1_02207149 EFTA02722360 nation is getting more religious. There are more head scarves in Istanbul than there used to be, and you see them at universities, where they used to be banned. People even leave work for Friday prayers--and secular bosse

722363 that would be conservatively religious but not outright Islamist. In 2001, Erdogan seized the moment, forming a new party, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP. The AKP, according to Balci, contrasted with its Islamist precursors in two key respects: it was highly internationalist, and specifically

with the support of the Gulenists. Erdogan will get lower numbers, but beyond that it is hard to predict, particularly the all-important cities of Istanbul and Ankara, the bastions of his power. The wild card is the declining economy. Deepening political instability, high-reaching corruption, Erdogan's

president keeping the party leadership position even after being elected, hinting that he did not want to leave the chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) to a successor, even if that successor is his long time fellow Gill. He was hinting at a referendum for the kind of system that could le

c reforms. Newspaper seller Menderes is beaming: "Everything is great!" His newsstand is located at the Kadikoy ferry landing on the Asian side of Istanbul. Business is going well these days -- and not just for Menderes. The Turkish economy is booming, registering the second-fastest growth rate in the

she says. "We can only achieve these reforms with EFTA_R1_00298542 EFTA01884061 the EU." In fact, Erdogan's conservative-religious Justice and Development Party (AKP) has used the EU accession process to transform Turkey into a more democratic and just country. But more recently, and particularly after the