Turkish President's Feud With Press is Rooted in a Deeper, Personal Unease

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s long-running feud with Turkey’s feisty opposition media has descended into open warfare ahead of Sunday’s general election, amid claims that his ruling neo-Islamist Justice and Development party (AKP) is plotting to fix the results and shrill threats to lock up journalists and editors en masse.
But Erdogan’s livid fury with the press may be rooted in a deeper, personal unease. Turkey’s apparently untouchable Teflon president, who has dominated political life since 2002 and now plans to rewrite the constitution, sideline parliament and grab sweeping dictatorial powers, increasingly fears he may have fatally misread the electorate’s mood.
The AKP is still expected to emerge as the largest single party. But opinion polls are showing unexpectedly strong support for opposition parties, notably the pro-Kurdish, secular and progressive People’s Democratic party (HDP).