Since the horrific coal mine accident in Soma, a poor town in western Anatolia, Turkey has focused on the 301 victims and the culprits of their tragic deaths. Everyday, newspapers and news channels run stories about Turkey's mines, their lack of safety, poor work conditions and insufficient legal and administrative standards.

Yet, there is a man who is at the center of all the attention: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Media and social media are full of endless comments on certain details, such as why he pointed to 19th-century England to prove his case that mine accidents are "normal occurrences"; why he told protesters in Soma, "If you boo me, I will slap you"; whether he really slapped a protester; and what he thinks about his assistant who, literally, kicked a protester who was subdued by two security officers.

Even the bizarre controversy around Alp Gurkan, the boss of Soma Holding, the company that operated the deadly mine, was actually about Erdogan. There was no doubt that Gurkan and his subordinates must be held accountable for the deadly negligence that cost so many lives, but an implicit struggle continued regarding whether blame should be extended to Erdogan or his enemies. News outlets critical of the government focused on Gurkan's ties with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), noting, for example, that he ordered all his workers to join AKP rallies in the province. As a response, the pro-government media emphasized Gurkan's secular identity, including his "freemasonry." (The ever-vulgar daily Yeni Akit went further, running the headline "Gurkan's Jewish son-in-law," which supposedly was proof of some Jewish conspiracy, according to this unabashedly anti-Semitic newspaper.)

But what is the root of this "Erdogano-centricity" in current-day Turkish politics?