Erdogan’s Achilles’ Heel

August 8, 2014, Foreign Affairs

Over the course of last year, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has surmounted some major obstacles. He crushed urban protests last summer. He cracked down on the followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen within the police and judiciary over the fall and winter. Electorally as well, Erdogan seems invincible: On Sunday, when Turkish voters head to the polls to elect a new president — the first to be chosen by popular vote — Erdogan is set to win in a landslide.

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