Erdogan Moves to Reshape Presidency of Turkey

“After more than a decade in power, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan dominates Turkish politics like a one-man-show,” the AP reports.

“He has defanged the once supreme military, reshaped the judiciary and cowed the press. Now, at the peak of his power, he has announced he is running for president – a role he intends to shape into the most powerful job in Turkey.”

“Erdogan engineered a constitutional change for a direct vote as the first of a two-step move to bolster his status as Turkey’s pre-eminent leader. But the second step – his aspiration to increase the powers of the presidency – stalled as he failed to build a coalition big enough to enact the change. Now Erdogan has signaled that he intends to combine the mandate of presidential victory with the force of his own personality to rule Turkey, even with constitutionally limited powers.”