EGF Turkey File, Mid April — Mid May 2014

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics between 16 April — 15 May 2014
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Turkey faces up to the worst mining disaster in its history, while the prime minister bungles the official response. A deputy chief of staff for Erdogan is photographed kicking a protester, and accusations are levelled that the prime minister himself struck another.
• Turkey"s top judge, with the prime minister in attendance, rebukes Erdogan in public statements in light of government criticism of the country"s top courts.
• While Turkey"s economic growth relies on substantial imports of Russian energy, the fate of the Crimean Tatars seems to remain outside the Turkish regional agenda.
• Alawites and Alevis, two religious minorities who largely support the opposition CHP, face an increasingly uncertain political future.
• In remarks to an American journalist, Prime Minister Erdogan says the country will pursue extradition of Fethullah Gulen from the U.S.