ELI5: What’s going on in Turkey?

r/

Whats happening in regards to the political tensions in Turkey?

Comments

  1. jamcdonald120 Avatar

    no idea, but give rule 2 another read. particularly the part where it says “no current events”

    this almost certainly qualifies, maybe try r/outoftheloop

  2. fatbunyip Avatar

    Current president Erdogan wants to stay longer. 

    His main rival (the mayor of Istanbul) was doing better than him in polls, so Erdogan had him arrested on made up charges, and even went as far as cancelling his degree he got in 1997 (a prerequisite to be a presidential candidate). 

    People are not happy, but this is not the first time Erdogan has done.suvh things. He has gradually become more and more authoritarian in the last 20 years so it remains to be seen if the current protests will result in anything.