Turkey's democracy is fighting for its life

Orhan Pamuk: *I've never seen such clampdowns in Istanbul. Turkey's democracy is fighting for its life.*

The country's most popular politician has been jailed, to stop him from running for president and perhaps defeating Erdoğan. Other dirty tricks are being used to stop him from running.

Even metro stations, buses and car travel in İstanbul are restricted, as is entry to the city, to make protests difficult.

When we see the bully's thugs beating up members of Congress, we have to wonder whether the federal courts will be able to protect democracy effectively from the bully if he does the sort of things Erdoğan does.

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