As President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tightened his stranglehold over Turkey and Turkish society, any elements of pragmatism that marked his first years in office have evaporated, supplanted by ego and ideology.

Erdogan’s ego is readily apparent. Erdogan has illegally acquired preserved forests and built palaces that dwarf Versailles, let alone the White House. From his early days as prime minister, he conflated himself with the state and considered any criticism of himself and his policies to be illegal. Turkey’s courts soon grew full of cases involving journalists, cartoonists, and public intellectuals who suggested Erdogan’s policies were misguided or wrong. When top aide Egemen Bagis was caught on tape mocking the Quran, Erdogan cared less about his sacrilege than about a man smoking in a cafe after Erdogan condemned the habit.