Turkey’s path to the dictatorship
The first phase of Erdoğan’s plan to neutralize the main opposition party — carried out in cooperation with former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu — has been completed. The crisis escalated when figures close to Kılıçdaroğlu, along with individuals linked to organized crime, made their way to CHP headquarters. It intensified further after Kılıçdaroğlu submitted a petition to the Ankara Police...
By moving to effectively install a court-appointed administration over CHP, Erdoğan's regime has taken a step that pushes Turkey closer to a Russian-style one-man rule, away from the competitive authoritarian system it had been. As the economy deteriorates and CHP gains ground, Erdoğan aims with this move to split CHP, inflame Alevi-Sunni tensions within the party, and — ahead of an increasingly likely early...