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Turkey is facing down a number of conflicts in the lead up to general elections on November 1st. The country's president,Tayyip Erdogan, was in Europe this week for a discussion approximately migration policies. Turkey already hosts some 2 million refugees from Syria and Iraq, or the European Union is asking for more help handling asylum applications. The fighting in Syria spilled over the border on Saturday when Russian jets entered Turkish air space. The Russian ambassador was summoned,and the incursion drew a "stern ultimatum" from NATO and indignation from the president.
The elections themselves are a major test of Erdogan's former political party, the Justice and Development Party known by its initials, and the AKP. The president is hoping voters will award the AKP with a majority in Turkey's parliament,but violence has started again between Turkish forces and the Kurdish group the PKK in the country's southeast.Elmira Bayrasli is an author and foreign policy analyst who just returned from Istanbul on Tuesday. She says the situation on the ground is tense.
Source: wnyc.org