Twelve Sycamore Trees Have Set the Limits on Turkish PM Erdoğan's Power

What began as a protest against the razing of Gezi Park for a shopping center in Istanbul quickly turned into nationwide antigovernment demonstrations when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded to the events in Gezi Park by calling the protesters “looters” and “terrorists.” For 11 years, Erdoğan's personal blend of market capitalism and conservative-leaning social stance had successfully garnered the support of the more urban, secular constituency as well as the rural, socially and religiously conservative. The West upholds Erdoğan's Turkey as an ideal Islamic democracy for the rest of the region to imitate. However, his Gezi Park crackdown and recent ultra-conservative social policies have the country on edge. For the first time under his rule, the citizenry has drawn limits on his power and Erdoğan may not be able to win a popular vote for president—leaving him out of Turkish politics for good.