Erdogan's March To Power Includes Expanded Authority And Expanding Borders

Barring something unforeseen happening in the next two months before Donald Trump takes office, Obama's antichrist prospects seem to be dropping precipitously, while Erdogan's continue to rise.

First, take a look at this November 7th article from the Independent:

"I don't care if they [the West] call me a dictator or whatever else. It goes in one ear, out the other."

He said the West should not hope to "bring Turkey into line" with "newspapers, caricatures, calling us a dictator, and so on, expecting that we would take a step back".

Turkish authorities sparked further controversy on Friday by restricting social media and messaging services such as WhatsApp following the arrests.

The country remains under a state of emergency imposed after the failed coup in July, which allows Mr Erdogan and his government to bypass parliament when drafting new laws and to restrict or suspect citizens' rights and freedoms.

European officials have been increasingly critical of Turkey's crackdown on those it suspects of involvement in the attempted coup. More than 110,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants have been detained or suspended in a response that critics say is quashing legitimate opposition.

Some 170 newspapers, magazines, TV stations and news agencies have been closed, leaving 2,500 journalists unemployed, Turkey's association of journalists says.

In October the government announced it would soon submit proposals to parliament for constitutional changes that would make Mr Erdogan "executive president", expanding his powers further.

...And then this article from Stripes:

ANKARA, Turkey — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has started talking about Turkey’s borders, hinting they should be shifted outward a bit. In Syria and Iraq, his army is involved in wars over territory once ruled from Istanbul. Maps of a Greater Turkey have circulated.

That has led to speculation that Erdogan, fresh from surviving an attempted coup, wants to crown his 14-year rule in Turkey by annexing chunks of its neighbors. But analysts see a more mundane domestic calculation behind the rhetoric: They say the president is really trying to expand his own powers, not his country’s frontiers.

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