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Recep Tayyip Erdogans carefully planned move to become legal dictator of Turkey is in its final stages. In the wake of a foiled coup, Erdogan removed or imprisoned every judge not on his side, shut down all opposition newspapers, and jailed all of his political opponents.

After his hand-picked court approved the changes Erdogan wanted, all that remains is a Public Referendum which Erdogan will win simply because he gets to count the votes.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun a final push to increase his power as Turkeys president a goal he has sought for years after the countrys parliament agreed far-reaching constitutional changes that will now be put to referendum.

The proposed changes, which were shepherded through parliament on Friday night in alliance between Turkeys ruling AKP and a nationalist party, would crown Mr Erdogans 14-year rule by boosting his formal role as president and allowing him to remain in post until 2029.

In a sign of the tension that may mark the referendum, fist fights broke out in parliament over several days, while a television blackout of the opposition speeches forced one opposing MP to bring his own cameras into parliament, only to have his microphone stolen.

Since the failed coup and the introduction of emergency powers, he has ruled the country by decree and 100,000 people accused of backing the coup have been imprisoned.

It is unclear if the president will lift the state of emergency before the poll, scheduled for an unspecified date after April 2, but some of the permanent powers he seek resemble the emergency powers he currently holds.

Expect a Permanent Emergency

Expect a permanent emergency with increasing power every step of the way to Erdogan. This is likely to continue until he is overthrown in a coup, assassinated, or until Turkey disintegrates into hyperinflation.

Turkish Lira Down 62 Percent Since September 2010

Thats not close to hyperinflation material, but hyperinflation is an increasing possibility when madmen dictators are in charge.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in bed with Erdogan who wants visa-free access to the EU for 80 million Muslim Turks.

Are German election threats and fireworks due to Erdogan coming up?

Mike Mish Shedlock

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Erdogan Seeks Powers to Stay in Office Until 2029: Expect ...

Theresa May and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoan have signed a 100m commitment to build new fighter jets, in a deal Downing Street hopes will see Britain become Turkeys leading defence partner.

Despite concerns about Erdoans human rights record and the increasingly authoritarian tone of his government, which has locked up thousands of political dissidents and protestors, a Downing Street spokeswoman said the two issues human rights and trade were distinct.

I think those are separate issues; Turkey is an important Nato partner, so our cooperation on both security and defence is in line with that.

She added: The PMs approach is quite clear: she thinks it is important and in the UKs interests to engage with Turkey.

Speaking alongside Erdogan in his vast office, May did take the opportunity to raise the issue of human rights, saying, Im proud that the UK stood with you on the 15 July last year in defence of democracy and now it is important that Turkey sustains that democracy by maintaining the rule of law and upholding its international human rights obligations as the government has undertaken to do.

In his statement, Erdogan stressed the possibilities for boosting trade between the two nations, saying they had talked extensively about the jet deal and predator drones.

Asked about the crackdown that followed last years attempted coup against Erdoans leadership, Mays spokeswoman said: We have expressed strong support for Turkeys democracy and institutions following the coup, but have also been very clear that we urge Turkeys response to be proportionate and in line with international human rights obligations.

May and Erdoan appeared alongside each other at his lavish presidential palace on a hill overlooking Ankara.

The prime minister, who had earlier laid a wreath at the mausoleum of Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, said: This agreement underlines once again that Britain is a great, global trading nation and that we are open for business.

It marks the start of a new and deeper trading relationship with Turkey and will potentially secure British and Turkish jobs and prosperity for decades to come.

Britain is keen to show it can strike lucrative trade deals as it prepares to exit the European Union, and the prime minister flew to Ankara straight from Washington, where she became the first foreign leader to visit Donald Trump in the White House.

The defence deal will see BAE Systems collaborate with Turkish companies to build a bespoke Turkish jet, the TF-X. It is worth 100m small in economic terms but Britain hopes it will kick off a longstanding relationship, and open the door to becoming Turkeys main defence provider. We would expect this to unlock further deals, the spokeswoman said.

May and Erdoan also agreed to form a joint working group to begin talking about a bilateral trade deal that could be signed after Brexit.

Britain currently trades with Turkey under its trade deal with the EU, which will no longer be valid when Britain leaves. The working group will be the 13th Britain has established to scope out potential agreements.

As well as signing the so-called heads of agreement for the jet deal, May and Erdoan discussed security cooperation and counterterrorism.

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Theresa May signs 100m fighter jet deal with Turkey's Erdoan - The Guardian

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a break Friday from dealing with his country's domestic issues to meet with actress Lindsay Lohan and Bana Alabed, the seven-year-old Syrian girl who attracted worldwide attention by tweeting about life in war-torn Aleppo.

Alabed -- who has been living in Turkey since she was evacuated from Aleppo on Dec. 19 -- tweeted a Periscope video with Lohan, writing, "look who I am with ... I have a new friend Lindsay Lohan."

In the 30-second video, Lohan, 30, says, "We want to send to all of the people in Syria and Aleppo suffering and all of the refugees that we are here supporting you and you can hang on, be strong, just like Bana has, and were sending you lots of love and light and blessings."

Alabed then says to Lohan, "I love you," to which the actress responds, "I love you too."

Lohan also posted a photo on Instagram Friday of herself with Alabed, Erdogan and his wife Emine, writing, "What a dream it is for Mr. President Erdogan and The First Lady to invite me to their home. Their efforts in helping Syrian Refugees is truly inspiring." Lohan also tagged President Donald Trump in the photo's caption.

Alabed tweeted the same photo writing, "Meeting with my friends @rt_erdogan, Emine and @lindsaylohan to support the people of Syria.I am searching the rights of the Syrian children

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Lindsay Lohan Meets With Turkish President Erdogan and Syrian Refugee Bana Alabed - ABC News

Is Erdogan A Russian Ally Or Putin's Puppet? Forbes Russian and Turkish strongmen Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan appear closer than ever. For years Erdogan opposed Putin's position on Syria, and demanded that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad must go. No longer does Erdogan voice this ... and more »

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Is Erdogan A Russian Ally Or Putin's Puppet? - Forbes

President Recep Tayyip Erdoan became the first leader in the history of the Republic of Turkey to visit 23 African countries.

As both Prime Minister and President, Erdoan embarked on 39 trips to Africa, visiting 23 countries.

Including last week's visit to Tanzania, Mozambique and Magdagascar, President Erdoan became among the world leaders with most visits to Africa.

Turkey's recent diplomatic efforts in the continent led to Erdoan giving the most momentum to the effort aimed at opening up to Africa.

While visiting these countries, President Erdoan met with political and business leaders, signing a large number of mutual agreements between Turkey and African countries.

The number of Turkey's diplomatic missions in the continent also expanded as the number of embassies increased from 12 in 2009 to 39 today.

Turkey and Madagascar have signed four agreements on diplomacy, economy and aid as part of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's last stop in the southeast African tour. The signing ceremony took place Wednesday at the presidential palace in the capital city, Antananarivo, where Erdogan met his Malagasy counterpart President Hery Rajaonarimampianina.President Erdoan paying visit to Madagascar Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation and consultation between the ministries of foreign affairs of Turkey and Madagascar. Cavusoglu also signed a memorandum of understanding on diplomatic training, information and document exchange. Turkish Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci signed a protocol on the application of aid between the two countries. Also, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation Director General Senol Goka signed a cooperation protocol between his organization and Madagascar's Radio and Television Authority. Erdogan and his delegation were in Tanzania and Mozambique before they came to Madagascar.

'Most visited country is Egypt'

In addition to being the first African country he visited in 2004, Egypt is also the African nation most visited by President Erdoan, followed by Algeria, Tunisia and Ethiopia.

With the exception of the year 2008, President Erdoan traveled to Africa at least once yearly since 2005.

In the years 2009, 2010 and 2011, Erdoan embarked on trips to Egypt, Libya, Somalia, Tunisia and South Africa.

In the years 2012 and 2013, the President visited Egypt, Gabon, Nigeria Senegal, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

'Most number of visits to Africa was in 2016'

During his term as President, Erdoan embarked on several trips, visting Algeria and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea in 2014.

During his visits to East African states in 2015, Erdoan traveled to Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia. He embarked on a trip to 8 African countries in 2016, the year he visited the African continent the most. Countries included in the official visit were Senegal, Kenya, Uganda, Guinea, Nigeria and Ghana.

In the context of his latest visit to Africa, which took place between 22-26 January, President Erdoan embarked on an official trip to Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar, raising the number of African countries visited to 23.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Ankara early Thursday after a five-day visit to Africa. Erdogan was welcomed by Ankara Gov. Ercan Topaca and city Gov. Melih Gokcek at Esenboga Airport. The president and a delegation traveled to Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar where he signed a number of economic and trade deals. The trip followed an earlier visit to the African continent last year where the Turkish president traveled to the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Kenya and Uganda in 2016.

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Erdoan becomes first Turkish leader to visit 23 African countries - Yeni afak English