Erdogan rules and divides HE SEEMS unbeatable. Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, secured his eighth big win in 14 years when his Justice and Development party (AK) swept to over 45% of the vote in local elections on March 30th. After facing down corruption charges, mass protests and accusations of authoritarianism, Mr Erdogan may feel emboldened to run for president in August. In an overtly polarising victory speech, he hinted as much. “We are ready to devote ourselves to whatever mission we are entrusted with,” he said. He also promised to go after his enemies: “we will enter their lair. They will pay for this.”Mr Erdogan was referring to Fethullah Gulen, a Sunni cleric and former ally, who runs an empire of schools, media outlets and charities and was expected to hurt the AK party in the polls. The Pennsylvania-based preacher is accused of being behind leaked tapes that support corruption claims against Mr Erdogan, his children and various cabinet members. Mr Erdogan, who denies any wrongdoing, has resorted to a reshuffle of thousands of policemen and judges said to be Gulenists and, most recently, to a ban on Twitter and…
