Turkey’s AKP: Who jumped ship and why - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Yasemin Çongar

Yasemin Çongar

Jan 7, 2014

(From L to R) Turkey's European Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis, Interior Minister Muammer Guler, Environment and City Planning Minister Erdogan Bayraktar, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag and Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan listen as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters at Esenboga Airport in Ankara December 24, 2013. Turkish ministers Caglayan and Guler resigned on Wednesday after their sons were arrested in a corruption investigation that has pitted the government against the judiciary — Turkey's European Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis, Interior Minister Muammer Guler, Environment and City Planning Minister Erdogan Bayraktar, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag and Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan listen as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses supporters, Ankara, Dec. 24, 2013. — REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Galatasaray's Hakan Sukur lies on the pitch during their UEFA Cup first round first leg soccer match against Sion at the Stade de Geneve in Geneva September 20, 2007. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse (SWITZERLAND) - RTR1U2VI

Ex-soccer player's resignation a turning point for the AKP

Yasemin Çongar

Yasemin Çongar

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he addresses to supporters during the celebrations of his election victory in front of the party headquarters in Ankara August 10, 2014. Erdogan secured his place in history as Turkey's first directly elected president on Sunday, sweeping more than half the vote in a result his opponents fear heralds an increasingly authoritarian state. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR41W94

Treason becomes routine accusation in Turkey

Tulin Daloglu

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses the media in Ankara November 13, 2013. Erdogan said on Wednesday work on the Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline project (TANAP), which will carry Azeri natural gas, will begin in early 2014. Turkey, which has a 20 percent stake in TANAP, and Azerbaijan, which controls 80 percent, are looking at ways to cooperate on shipping Azeri gas to the Balkans, Erdogan also said after talks with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Ankara. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags

Is Turkey experiencing the autumn of the patriarch?

Thomas Seibert

Istanbul's Mayor Kadir Topbas delivers a speech during the groundbreaking ceremony of Taksim mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC160DB5DBE0

Does Istanbul mayor's ouster spell AKP shakeup?

Ayla Jean Yackley

Ayla Jean Yackley