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truly saddens us. When we look at why it is in this condition, the main reason is that it has strayed from the practice of these values and principles,” he added.
“Deep differences”
A founding member of the AKP, Babacan resigned from the party in July, citing “deep differences”. Babacan served as economy and foreign minister during its first years in power before becoming deputy prime minister with responsibility for the economy, a role he held from 2009 to 2015. Between 2005 and 2009 he was Turkey’s
chief negotiator for accession to the European Union.
Babacan said in the interview with Karar – known in Turkey as a newspaper that became home to former Erdogan- supporting journalists kicked out of pro-government media outlets – that he was working to find like-minded
individuals to create a team that could lead the new party.
“This will take some time,” Babacan said. “We want the party to be formed before 2020. The quality is very important here.”
Babacan also talked about how Turkey’s economy needed to emerge from a spiral and, given the plentiful liquidity in world markets, to “urgently” lower its risk premium. The erosion of the judiciary and some foreign policies under the present administration were partly to blame for the economic problems, he said.
Response awaited
The response of Erdogan to the new challenges to his authority is awaited. Shortly before the Babacan and Davutoglu moves he warned AKP members that those who “get off this train will not be allowed back on”.
In Sivas, central Anatolia, the president told party faithful. “If we keep our brotherhood strong, then seeds of unrest can’t grow. Those who wanted to harm the AKP for their own political ambitions and aspirations have always been disappointed.”
Dissent in the ranks, though usually
not public, has not been that hard
to come by since the party suffered embarrassment in Ankara, Istanbul
and other cities during the spring local elections. Turkey’s next elections are not scheduled until 2023 but there is some speculation Erdogan might try to use the credit taps to secure an economic bounce that he could exploit in snap elections. The strategy would be to consolidate his presidency before an opposition party has a chance of riding a wave of popular support.
COMMENT: Moldovan president’s determination to stop an airport deal appears increasingly misleading
Will Nicoll in Edinburgh
Regime change in Moldova
has been met with cautious optimism by Brussels, as President Igor Dodon pledged to dismantle the businesses that have
long dominated political life. But mere months after a contentious coalition was brokered between Dodon and Maia Sandu, both international observers and Romanian media are pondering whether a pledged programme of “de-oligarchisation” amounts to “Dodon-isation” – as a president with questionable allies and commercial partners renews his attacks on the foreign owner of the country’s only international airport, while Sandu, now Moldova’s prime minister, remains silent.
For a president enmeshed in Moldovan politics for decades, and a well-intentioned prime minister who has had no choice but to make deals with questionable allies to form a functioning government, the persecution of foreign businesses has become a key test. Mere months after the coalition brokered between Dodon’s Socialist Party and Sandu’s ACUM bloc brought cautious optimism, a bitter commercial dispute with the new owner of Moldova’s only international airport
has raised concerns amongst diplomats, media and the private sector.
Though not widely reported, President Dodon’s family have direct commercial links to Moscow. His brother Alexandru
controls 15% of the equity in Archpley Development – a developer of one million square metres of luxury residential stock in central Moscow.
His business partner, Igor Chaika, is
the son of Russia’s prosecutor general, whose other son, Artem, happens to be a donor to a foundation controlled by the Moldovan president’s wife – despite his being subject to sanctions imposed by the Global Magnintsky List. A country thought to have broken the shackles of oligarchy this July looks increasingly like a family business, as Dodon seeks to “nationalise” many concessions granted by his predecessors – venting his ire
at the foreign businesses that won’t capitulate to threats.
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