Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Manufacturing

Manufacturing the AKP in Turkey — Textile workers at a sweatshop in Pendik, Istanbul, Turkey. Rebecca Erol/Alamy Stock PhotoFigure 1. Manufacturing output of the Turkish economy and the voting share of the major Islamist party in Turkey, 1973–2019. Created by author with data from UN Stat and Turkish Supreme Election Council.

Current Analysis

Manufacturing the AKP in Turkey

The AKP's decades-long electoral success in Turkey has been made possible by their strategic alliance with the country's small industrialists. Utku Balaban analyzes the connection between Islamism and industrialization since the rise of these urban manufacturers in the 1980s and explains the nuances

Utku Balaban • 15 min read