He has purged the party of ultranationalist hardliners, who almost got the CHP booted out of the Socialist International.

ECONOMIST: The Turkish opposition

One of the loudest critics of the French law, which first came before parliament in 2006, was Hrant Dink, an Armenian newspaper owner who was murdered in Istanbul by an ultranationalist youth in 2007.

ECONOMIST: Turkey, France and Armenia

The situation is very fluid there, but the far-right LAOS party, with a couple of lawmakers in parliament, has lost ground to the ultranationalist Golden Dawn party, which has a history of street violence, Gemenis said.

CNN: Is the far right gaining ground in Europe?