The Corner

Behind the Turkey headlines

The likely Turkish incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan is big news. As important–but being overshadowed by matters of war and terrorism–is the passage today of a referendum allowing direct election of the Turkish president. Only 67 percent voted, as compared with around 90 percent in every previous referendum. It is uncertain, though, whether the referendum will be upheld if challenged, as the ruling party changed its wording part way through the voting. And, perhaps more important, the Islamists today won the presidency of the Constitutional Court.

Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Civil-Military Relations, and a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly.
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