Members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, are starting fall out of love with his brand of democracy. AP
Members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, are starting fall out of love with his brand of democracy. AP
Members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, are starting fall out of love with his brand of democracy. AP
Members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, are starting fall out of love with his brand of democracy. AP

Isolated Erdogan: nearly a million party members walk out on ruling Turkish party


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Seventeen years to the month after Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won its first election, the party is showing signs of fatigue as members abandon the movement that has dominated Turkish politics for nearly two decades.

In recent months, claims of dwindling party numbers suggest increasing disillusionment among its conservative supporters.

This week the opposition Arti Gercek newspaper cited figures from the Supreme Court to show that nearly 58,000 members had quit the AKP in the past two months.

Since August 2016, a month after a failed coup that led to a widespread crackdown, more than 902,000 AKP supporters resigned their party membership, the newspaper said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who leads the AKP, said in September that party numbers had dropped by 290,000 and claimed the fall was largely due to deaths.

Despite such losses, the party still has a membership of 9.8 million – figures that easily surpass most major political parties in Europe as well as domestic rivals.

The party is also threatened by high-level resignations, most notably former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Ali Babacan, a former deputy prime minister who oversaw the economic successes of previous AKP governments. Both are planning to establish new centre-right parties to challenge the AKP in the coming months.

In an interview with broadcaster Haberturk on Tuesday night, Mr Babacan, a founding member of the AKP who quit in July, warned of the risks of "one-man rule" and said Turkey had "entered a dark tunnel with its problems on every issue growing by the day".

Under a presidential system introduced last year that sidelined MPs, power has been concentrated in the hands of Mr Erdogan as the country has taken an increasingly authoritarian path.

“There were important principles and values during the foundation of the AK Party but there has been a significant departure from these principles,” Mr Babacan said.

The past three years encompass not just the post-coup purges but also a crisis during which the economy has slipped into recession as the lira plummeted in value and inflation and unemployment soared.

In local elections this year the AKP lost control of Turkey's largest cities, including Ankara and Istanbul, which had previously been a major source of patronage for the party.

A poll by Ada Research released yesterday showed public support for Mr Babacan and Mr Davutoglu at about 9 per cent, a significant figure given the AKP has in recent years had to rely on an electoral alliance with the Nationalist Action Party.

Ahmet Evin, a political scientist at Istanbul's Sabanci University, said tensions in the AKP stemmed from the switch to the presidential system.

“The main problem is that, for the conservative mainstream, the party is deviating from what they consider democracy,” he said.

“This is a kind of frustration within the leadership of the party. That frustration is increasing because they had a comfortable majority in a parliamentary system where they could come to an agreement between the right wing and Islamist parts of the party. Now there’s a feeling the national will is no longer being respected by the party.”

The new system, confirmed in last year’s presidential election, has led to a cabal of insiders close to Mr Erdogan vying for power, Prof Evin said.

“There are people who are close to the [presidential] palace who are alienating those who had power and were part of the Cabinet and party,” he said.

The factionalism at the top of government has largely focused on Mr Erdogan’s son-in-law, Finance Minister Berak Albayrak, and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. The rivalry has become an open secret, with newspapers reporting the ministers ordering phone-tapping and media leaks against each other.

Although Turkey is not due to hold another election until 2023, there have been suggestions recently that the vote will be called early.

The leftist BirGun newspaper reported on Wednesday on the likelihood of an election by April 2021 as Mr Erdogan seeks time to restore the economy and nullify the impact of the new parties formed by Mr Babacan and Mr Davutoglu.

The latter is particularly important under the presidential system, which means Mr Erdogan has to win more than 50 per cent of the vote.

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The specs

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Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm

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2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

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England's all-time record goalscorers:
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Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29

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Getting there

The flights

Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.

The stay

Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.

Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com

Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:

1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition

Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
  • 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
  • 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
  • 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
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Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

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MATCH INFO

Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')

Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')

Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

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RACE RESULTS

1. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1hr 21min 48.527sec
2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) at 0.658sec
3. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull) 6.012 
4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 7.430
5. Kimi Räikkönen (FIN/Ferrari) 20.370
6. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas) 1:13.160
7. Sergio Pérez (MEX/Force India) 1 lap
8. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Force India) 1 lap
9. Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams) 1 lap
10. Lance Stroll (CAN/Williams) 1 lap
11. Jolyon Palmer (GBR/Renault) 1 lap
12. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL/McLaren) 1 lap
13. Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Renault) 1 lap
14. Pascal Wehrlein (GER/Sauber) 1 lap
15. Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sauber) 2 laps
16. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso) 3 laps

Unresolved crisis

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.

Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.

The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.

While you're here
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company

The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.

He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.

“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.

“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.

HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon. 

With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.

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Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000