 There was a point when Ahmed and many others, including Western leaders, held hope that under President Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party, known as AKP, that Turkey could be on the path to a stronger democracy. In fact, in 2009, when Erdogan, a devout Muslim, was still Prime Minister, he gave Ahmed's famous father, a left-wing politician, atheist and writer, one of the country's top awards. At the ceremony, Erdogan said in part, and I quote,