"Kulak’tan kulağa," literally "from ear to ear," is a popular game among Turkish children, one with equivalents in many cultures. It involves 20 or so youngsters sitting in a row. The first one utters a phrase to his neighbor, and ear to ear the sentence passes down the line. Invariably, "Ahmet wears red shorts" becomes something like, "Ahmet is short and red" by the time the message reaches the end of the line.
It should be much more apparent to European diplomats today, that the relative leniency with which the European Union is approaching the Erdogan government’s sins against democracy and human rights, is being used to the advantage of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.