When the pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi – AKP) first come to power in 2002 Turkey was promoted as ‘moderate Muslim’ and a ‘model’ of secular democracy for the Arab countries. A ‘new Turkey’ emerged under Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership that promised to achieve the European Union (EU) membership, to solve the Kurdish question, and to act as mediator in foreign relations between the West and Islam, Europe and the Middle East.
In 2017, none of these promises is achievable and Turkey is no longer seen as model. What went wrong in Turkey as the only ‘Muslim democracy’ in the Middle East? Has Turkey moved further away form its secular, democratic and European path? Is the new Turkey becoming more religious? The panel will engage with these questions to critically analyse the correlations between the domestic conditions of Turkish democracy and foreign policy orientation.
The results of the rerun of the Istanbul mayoral vote surpassed the expectations of the most opposition friendly forecasts. Almost all of the public... Read More
The reluctance of the AKP politicians in relinquishing the municipalities they have lost in last week’s local election is another way of telling the... Read More
When analyzing the March 31 local elections, we must do it under three headings. These are 1. How did Turkey go to elections? 2.... Read More
