The image of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar sitting next to him is more expressive than anything else of the tremors involving the government and the military in Turkey. Dressed not in military fatigues but in an elegantly tailored civilian suit, Akar is a subservient-looking general — which has to be the case in any democratic regime, indeed — with a troubled look and a nervous expression on his face, reflecting the increasing unease in the higher echelons of power.
While the fateful date of April 16 — the day the constitutional amendments that could give Erdogan extraordinary executive powers and transform him into the "sultan president,” as many observers and his critics allege — approaches, the possibility of rejection by popular vote surprisingly increases.