POWER GRAB
MAGDA WIERZYCKA: Erdogan shows how near dictatorship is
Turkey is a good example of how quickly a functioning democracy can be subjugated to the will of one man
When considering SA’s future, it would be amiss to ignore the fact that we have a president who faces only a personal downside — be it endless court cases in SA or the gilded cage of Dubai — should he give up power. It is therefore fair to assume that he will fight to stay in power by whatever means possible.
Consider Turkey as a good example of how quickly a functioning democracy can be subjugated to the will of one man. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to prominence in 2001 after cofounding the conservative Justice and Development Party, which won the elections of 2002, 2007 and 2011. He served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014. At the same time as his government invested heavily in infrastructure, started negotiating membership of the EU, began peace negotiations with the Kurds and curbed the power of the military, it was marred by allegations of corruption and trading gold for discounted oil from Iran.In May 2013, nationwide protests resulted in a police clampdown. In December 2013, Erdogan made his first move to eliminate the opposition when the police arrested heads of banks and ministers for corruption, enabling Erdogan to get rid of Fethullah Gülen, leader of a religious movement that had supported the Justice and Development Party. Ironically, Erdogan himself was implicated...
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