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A detailed story on Fethullah Gulen, once an ally of president Erdogan in his effort to reduce the influence of the nation's military but now seen by him as a rival. Gulen lives in Pennsylvania. The recent coup in Turkey, and the efforts by Erdogan to reduce the influence of Gulen supporters in Turkey, has increased tensions between Turkey and the U.S. This is happening just as Turkey's relations with Germany are worsening after the failed coup, the  Erdogan response, and what is seen as a drift to authoritarian rule. Earlier corruption inquiries in 2014 critical of the Erdogan government by judges in the Gulen faction of the AK Party led to the split between the two factions, followed by Erdogan controlling judicial appointments and controlling the media.

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Bayern Munich in Champions League semi-finals 2026. Bayern's Neuer in semifinals against Real 2026 helps Guler get the first goal in first 4 minutes.

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The corruption inquiry in Turkey in 2013 on prime minister Erdogan and the AKP's ties to the construction industry. The rift between sufi preacher Fethullah Gulen, and the prime minister of Turkey, over policies that steer Turkey away from the west and the concentration of power in the AKP. Huseyn Gulerce, who is close to Gulen, says Gulen is critical of Turkey's drifting away from seeking membership of the European Union and not conducting democratic changes. Gulen and Erdogan worked together to bring the AKP to power in elections and reduce the military's influence in politics and government. Gulen left Turkey in 1999 after being accused of trying to turn Turkey into a Islamic state and has settled in Pennsylvania, U.S.. Erdogan is a one time Mayor of Istanbul, and critics say the construction industry business interests and Erdogan have ignored zoning laws to move ahead with haphazard development of the city pushing out old time residents. This was also a complaint of protesters in the summer 2013 protests in Taksim Square, Istanbul....

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Glen McGrath the fast bowler from Australia with 563 wickets the previous record for fast bowler in cricket compares Anderson of England to Sachin Tendulkar in India. The only other bowlers in this league are Anil Kumble and Shane Warne. Stuart Broad who got his 500th wicket in Test cricket says Anderson, 38 years, has got better with age and has always inspired him.

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Conflicts between prime minister Erdogan and the supporters of U.S. based cleric Hethullah Golen in the AKP Justice Party. The Golen supporters in the police and judiciary and an investigation on corruption charges of Erdogan's business and political allies.

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The last successful coup attempt was in 1997, so the coup attempt in July 2016 by the military comes as a surprise. DW.com  discounts reports that the coup attempt was clumsy, or that Erdogan himself was involved in a fake coup to consolidate power. It says the coup involved about a third of the military officers, who would have been successful if Erdogan himself had not escaped just a few minutes before an airborne team was supposed to take Erdogan. The prime minister Yildrim also was not taken, and private television broadcasters also continued to broadcast. The other failure was to not being able to control the police which remained neutral, and to gain the support of the religious establishment, as mosques broadcast appeals to resist the coup. As a result had the coup succeeded it would have meant a struggle to control the country. The business and upper class that have strong differences with Erdogan and his authoritarian style also failed to support the coup, as they saw this as an incorrect move. ...

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Alexander Kudascheff of the DW.com says in this editorial opinion that the secular republic of Kemal Ataturk is about to become an Islamic autocracy. Kudascheff cites a number of reasons why the failed coup seems partly improbable such as it being led by the Air Force and Erdogan being able to fly back to Istanbul, not cutting communications,  and the intelligence agencies not having earlier knowledge about it. The overreaction to what is seen as a coup that was put down so quickly raises questions about the coup itself, says DW.com. It points out that Turkey now being admitted to the European Union now seems less probable than ever. The 3 month emergency is also seen with much skepticism. The coup and Erdogan's overeaction are a big negative event for Turkey-Eu relations.

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Patrick Kingsley of the NYT provides this report from Turkey. He talks to the wife of a journalist jailed in the recent crackdown on media by president Erdogan. He also talks to a loyalist of Erdogan, a muhtar, who says he resisted army troops during a coup attempt. Beyond the different perspectives on events is a different conception of Turkey, one that sees Turkey in the sense of a liberal democracy with European values, and the other of a Islamic society with nationalist views. Views that coexisted in Turkey's subconscious mind upto this time, but are now in conflict. 

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Turkey's constitutional amendment to centralize powers in the office of the president was approved by 51.2% of voters with 48.8% voters saying "no." About 85% of 55 million eligible voters voted in the election. It was seen as not offering a level playing field for opposition parties to organize and have freedom of assembly, after action taken by the president against the media and opposition following the coup attempt in 2016. The opposition Republican Party says about 2.5 million votes may have been compromised. Also showing the wide split in the country between urban and rural, a majority of voters from the largest cities of Istanbul and Ankara voted against expanding the president's powers. The constitutional amendment now becomes effective in Nov. 2019 after new elections. Turkey's electoral boards are adminstered by judges, yet the integrity of the system of justice has suffered from the dismissal of about one third of all judges since July 2016.

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One of the problems facing the Republican People's Party, the CHP, is how to connect with religious voters. CHP is the party that is most closely associated with modern Turkey's founder, Kemal Ataturk. CHP was the main party in Turkey till the recent dominance of the AKP Party in elections. AKP drew support from the more religious and rural population in the parts of Turkey outside cities such as Ankara and Istanbul. CHP rarely identified itself with street protest and remained aloof from ordinary people making it hard for it to contest elections against the AKP - winning Ankara and Istanbul but losing the elections in the last decade. The AKP also allied itself with Turkey's Ottoman heritage and appealed to nationalist sentiment against a conservative aloof CHP leading to a split in Turkey between the secular urban and the religious minded more rural people. CHP also did not work with minorities such as the Kurds to build a broader coalition. This is changing with the march from Ankara to Istanbul led by CHP leader Kilicdaroglu. The march came after the justice system appeared to be allied with president Erdogan, and a 25 year sentence was given to one of Kilicdaroglu's deputies. Erdogan now appoints the judges in the judiciary and the crackdown on the opposition since the failed coup of 2016, has led to a sense that Turkey is now run as a one party state. An estimated 1.5 million Turks participated in the rally in Istanbul, according to DW, showing that the opposition is forming to the arbitrary rule since the emergency powers assumed by the president. For the last decade Erdogan and the AKP Party formed the government. What changed since 2016 is the new constitution that gives new powers to the president and the arbitrary rule since the crackdown on the opposition that intensified after 2014, and which has increased since the failed coup in 2016.  ...

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Turkey's lira depreciates by 21% in 2013 and an additional 7% by January 24, 2014. The central bank uses up a third of its foreign exchange reserves or $19 billion in intervention to support the lira since June 2013. The intervention on June 24, 2014, did not work and the lira continued its downward slide to 2.30 to the lira. The political protests in Turkey and divisions within factions in the government about corruption probes has led to a political crisis and investors pulling back from Turkey. The central bank failed to increase interest rates as expected by investors and suggested by the IMF. Inflation is running at 7.4% for 2013. In August 2001 a currency crisis caused the banking system to collapse. The financial position is stronger than in that crisis, yet the recent political crisis and the large current account deficit has badly dented investor sentiment.

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Riza Sarraf is a 30 year old Iranian who assumed Turkish citizenship and married a pop star in the country. His company received a 1.7% commission for physical transfer of gold to Iran as payment for Iran's exports of oil to Turkey till this loophole to sanctions was closed in June 2013.