Political crisis continues in Turkey

The current political crisis in Turkey seems set to continue with the sacking of dozens of police chiefs in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, and other cities across the country.
These summary dismissals or redeployment of police chiefs, many of whom had only been appointed by the government only a few months ago, shows just how worried the government feels that similar scandalous details may emerge elsewhere in the country. There were demonstrations today in Istanbul asking for the resignation of the government, and indeed the former A-K-P Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Günay has called on ministers who are implicated to resign to ensure a fair trial. Ironically the A-K-P first came to power in 2001 at a time when Turks were sick of the unaccountable corruption of previous governments. The AKP or AK Party promised purity in power, AK is Turkish for “white” or “pure”, a word and a party that may be now tarnished. Observers believe that if this massive corruption scandal, perhaps the biggest in the history of modern Turkey is not dealt with decisively by the government, then Prime Minister Erdogan and his A-K-P ruling party could suffer serious damage in the run up to next year’s elections and beyond.