Can Erdogan survive Soma mine tragedy?
The Soma mine disaster might be the incident to finally damage the prime minister's presidential aspirations.
Only a week ago, I wrote, “There is never a dull moment in Turkey.” My inspiration at the time was the drama of the prime minister stalking out of a solemn, official event. He lost his control, stood up and yelled at the speaker, who happened to be the chairman of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. All this drama took place in front of the president and was televised live.
After less than a week, I need to add a new dictum: “Impossibility is impossible in today’s Turkey.” During a visit to the western Turkish town of Soma, where hundreds of miners lost their lives in a disaster mourned by the entire nation, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was caught on video seemingly striking a young miner inside a shop. Erdogan was forced to take refuge in a supermarket when confronted by an angry crowd calling for his resignation.
This has to be unprecedented in history. But it seems these events happened in Turkey, and the incident became public knowledge when video of the altercation was dispersed on social media. The victim of the alleged attack appeared on Kanal D, one of Turkey’s major TV networks. He said he wasn’t angry with the prime minister, who didn’t mean to do it, and that his real anger was with the bodyguards. He asked only for an apology from the prime minister.
An apology might be enough for the young Soma laborer, but since the prime minister is preparing to run for president and needs votes, the Turkish public needs more than a personal apology.
