Erdogan's Fight Shows Control of Turkey Runs Through Istanbul

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest political battle is about much more than keeping one major city under his party’s control.

Hours after Turkey’s top election watchdog accepted the ruling AK Party’s appeal to redo Istanbul’s mayoral vote, the costs of greater political uncertainty inflicted on the economy were already on display. The lira weakened the most in emerging markets, stocks were battered and critics began to wonder whether the Middle East has lost its biggest democracy.