Erdogan triumphs—with plenty of help from his enemies
A victorious party with Islamic roots says it will respect Turkey's secularism—and the highly secular generals say they will respect the voters' wishes
THE political landscape is unrecognisable. In Turkey's general election on November 3rd, for the first time in 15 years one party seized an absolute majority: the conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And it is a party which, though non-Islamist, has clear Islamic roots. But above all it was seen as a clean party (its Turkish initials, A and K, spell ak, white or clean). A wave of hope has swept a nation long hostage to economic mismanagement, repressive laws and corrupt politicians.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Erdogan triumphs—with plenty of help from his enemies”
From the November 9th 2002 edition
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