I have been watching Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for more than a decade now. I have always found him to be a charismatic public speaker. He would not put you to sleep; he has a good sense of humor. His personal charms have helped him survive the troubled waters of Turkish politics. Sadly, things have changed. In a gradual yet steady manner as Erdogan has become rather enraged. Since Dec. 17, I have crouched in my chair with fear watching Erdogan. Those of you who are not able to understand what I am trying to say can watch this video and view his chilling reactions answering a few simple questions during a news conference. In this instance, a journalist properly asked Erdogan about the three allegations, “whether he knows of and owns villas built on land that belongs to the treasury, whether he had telephoned a television channel boss to delete a bottom-of-the-screen news crawl about an opposition leader’s comments on live TV and whether Erdogan had ordered businessmen to create a 'pool' of money to purchase a newspaper and television conglomerate.”
There are several allegations against Erdogan’s party. Tthe Justice and Development Party (AKP) refers to these as “operations” or attempts of a “coup” by different lobbies. From “losers' lobby” to “Jewish” or “pineapple” and the latest, “robot” lobby, Erdogan has uttered at least 20 different lobby names since June 2013. This is when there are no registered interest groups in the Turkish political system.
