Abstract
Emerging through the clouds at 15,000 feet, the wheatcolored landscape below looked bone-dry, although the previous week's snow had made roads in the southeastern Turkish towns of Batman and Siirt impassable. Fortunately for Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), an early taste of spring had warmed the air and mostly melted the snow, yielding favorable weather for the by-elections of March 9, 2003. That day's results sent AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Turkish parliament, and from there to the prime minister's seat, ending more than four months of uncertainty over who really ran the government. As March 9 approached, foreign and Turkish journalists poured into the area. Delegations of MPs from the AKP and the Republican People's Party (CHP) flew in from Ankara for the day to pay their respects to local dignitaries. Ten days prior to the election, Erdogan himself dropped in for the day, before wrapping up his barely noticeable campaign with two quick speeches in Batman and Siirt.
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