The Lemon Seller Now Turkey’s ‘Sultan’

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan
greet AK Party (AKP) members at a meeting where he is named as his
party's candidate for the country's first direct presidential election in
Ankara on Tuesday. – Reuters

SAUDI GAZETTE: ANKARA – Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who rose from selling lemons on the streets to become Turkey’s most powerful modern leader, is hailed by supporters as the saviour of his country, but has become an increasingly polarizing figure.

The religiously devout but charismatic prime minister is now seeking to extend his 11-year domination of Turkey by standing in a presidential election that would make him Turkey’s longest serving ruler since its founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

But the man dubbed the “Sultan” is enduring the most turbulent phase of his career, accused of being an autocrat and lashing out erratically at critics, from former allies to Twitter users.

Months of political turmoil in the wake of the Gezi street protests have cast a shadow over Erdogan, once hailed as an emerging global player after Turkey’s decade of unprecedented growth.

“I am not a dictator. It is not even in my blood,” he said last year.

But as tales of official graft and sleaze spread through social networks, the 60-year-old has become increasingly irritable and combative, branding his critics “traitors” and “terrorists.” » | AFP | Tuesday, July 01, 2014