Street Clashes Rock Istanbul, Turkish Government
Street clashs rock Istanbul, Kurds await answers to their demands, Alevis, moderate secularists and urban youths are angry, and yet the AKP is defiant.
Despite the astonishing, far-reaching changes that Turkey has undergone in recent years, thickening clouds of anxiety are hovering over the country.
The apprehension has little to do with the economy. The negative energy emanating from Syria has a partial impact. The jitters in public sentiment stem essentially from increasingly pronounced links between politics and religion, interventions in lifestyles and the negligence of the demands of various social groups.
All attention is focused on the decisive impact that Turkey’s Kurds will have on the country’s macro politics.
Let’s first lay out some observations on social unrest. Turkey’s economy has continued to grow and for its allies, the country remains a powerful element of regional stability. In terms of domestic politics, however, Turkey has entered a state of limbo as the 12-year-old government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) balks at matching economic growth with political reform, creating a tactical-strategic confusion with distracting machinations and deviations into meandering paths.
