Turkey: from polarisation to pluralism 

On September 5th Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, the social-democratic Republican People’s Party (CHP), announced his willingness to run as a presidential candidate in next year’s election—should the centrist electoral alliance of which the CHP is part agree.

Besides the social democrats, that opposition ‘Nation Alliance’ includes nationalists, conservatives, Islamists and liberals. The six parties to it have pledged to overhaul the current constitution, which gives unchecked powers to the president, restoring power to the parliament and securing the autonomy of the judiciary.

The polls show that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, president since 2014, has lost ground and that the candidate of a unified, centrist opposition stands a realistic chance of winning. Erdoğan’s economic policies have impoverished the broad masses: consumer inflation exceeds 80 per cent and the number of poor increased by 3.2 million during the last two years, reaching ten million. While in 2012 per capita income exceeded $12,000, it has since fallen by a third.

repeats of repeats of repeats: 

The Islamic revolution in Iran and the rise of the AKP  created the middle class that made these changes possible. Apart from rhetoric, there's nothing radical about the protests in Iran. That's their strength.

The flipped image is interesting (the Balenciaga hoodie). It looks better this way, but that's another subject. The whole thing's staged, probably by a professional. No crowds, they're signaling at a mostly empty street. The symmetry, the $700 hoodie and leather bags. The short hair and the chador flowing down the back of the head is a nice detail. (source)