Erdogan’s Will to Power Leaves Turkey in Upheaval

Erdogan’s Will to Power Leaves Turkey in Upheaval
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan salutes during a meeting with the leaders of villages at the presidential palace, Ankara, Turkey, Sept. 29, 2015 (AP photo/Presidential Press Service).

In the aftermath of last weekend’s horrific bombings in Ankara, the Turkish people and international observers are trying to understand what went wrong with Turkey, a country that until very recently embodied the hopes of a more peaceful and interconnected Middle East. The answer inevitably leads to one man: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The evidence in the twin suicide attack that killed almost 100 people, making it the deadliest in Turkey’s modern history, points to the self-declared Islamic State. And yet, many people, searching for the bigger picture in Turkey’s crisis, have turned angrily in Erdogan’s direction.

Turkey’s president, until recently viewed in many quarters as the great hope for bridging ideological, ethnic and political divisions both within the country and among its neighbors, has come crashing down from his pedestal.

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