Only five months ago, millions of Turkish voters, fed up with the corruption and inefficiency of Turkey's old guard of aged politicians, gave the country its first single-party government in 15 years, under the aegis of a brand-new outfit, the Justice and Development Party. The markets were enthusiastic. The main index of Istanbul's battered stockmarket shot up, while interest rates fell below 50% for the first time in nearly a decade. Here at last, it seemed, was a strong government that could push through long-delayed economic and democratic reforms, settle the Cyprus problem and give Turkey a decisive shove towards joining the European Union.
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