The news from Turkey lately has been mostly bad: A mine disaster this spring killed more than 300 workers; a corruption probe in December raised allegations of high-level graft in the Cabinet; and resentment continues to smolder against mega-projects that are threatening Istanbul's remaining green spaces.
That doesn't sound like a good platform for a term-limited prime minister to transform himself into Turkey's first strong president since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the republic.