Erdogan's election victory could be good news for Turkish democracy | Mohammed Ayoob | Comment is free | theguardian.com

Erdogan's election victory could be good news for Turkish democracy | Mohammed Ayoob | Comment is free | theguardian.com: Some Turkish commentators seem puzzled by the fact that "half of the corruption claims [faced by Erdoğan] in any other democratic country would be enough for the collapse of the government." However, the election outcome is less puzzling when analysed in the Turkish political context. Corruption had been an endemic part of the Turkish political system until the AKP came to power in 2002, and the party seemed to have a relatively clean record until recently. Turkish voters are therefore used to taking corruption claims in their stride. The difference between earlier governments and that of the AKP is that the former were corrupt as well as economically inefficient, if not disastrous. The AKP government, even if corrupt, has delivered on the economic front with a very visible rise in the income level and standard of living of the average Turkish citizen.