Erdogan's Anti-Coup Formula For Turkey

The Turkish leader honed his mix of religion and pothole politics in Istanbul. 

- Donna Abu-Nasr, with Onur Ant and Ercan Ersoy

The garbage dump in the heart of Istanbul was an eyesore—and then a killer. In 1993 an explosion caused by a buildup of methane gas left dozens dead in the Umraniye district. A year later, voters elected Recep Tayyip Erdogan mayor, handing control of the city to an Islamist politician for the first time. A sports complex now stands on the site of the former dump. The skyline is dotted with towers bearing the logos of Sony, Total, Al Baraka Banking Group—symbols of the wave of global capital that’s transformed the city, and much of the country, since Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, gained national power in 2002. “We could smell the stench at home,” recalls Muharrem Balik, manager of the sports complex, who grew up in the area. “I wish I were a kid now to play here.”

Ulku Dereyurt, a 35-year-old housewife shopping at an Umraniye department store, says she used to feel nervous about wearing the head-to-toe black robe some Muslim women favor. “People weren’t kind,” she says. “Every time I entered a shop I was ignored. Now, uncovered women serving in the shops can smile at covered ones.”

It’s all happened on Erdogan’s watch, and it helps explain why— almost alone in the Middle East—he’s been able to lead an Islamic-rooted government to power via the ballot box and keep it there. Many others have fallen by the wayside: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood was toppled by the army, Islamists in Tunisia and Libya were edged out, and Morocco’s Islamist governing party has remained subservient to the king.