Current Analysis

Turkish Intervention in Syria Heightens Authoritarianism in Turkey and Fragmentation in Syria

Turkish military incursions into Syria since 2016 are shaping power dynamics not only in Syria but also domestically. Turkish state building practices in Syria are changing the demographics of the border area in Syria and benefiting Turkish industry and political elites. At home, Ankara is suppressi

Sinem Adar • 10 min read

Covid-19 Coverage

Voices from the Middle East: On the Frontlines of Inequality in Turkey During COVID-19

Pharmacists in Turkey, like the author's parents, are working overtime to serve their communities and to adapt quickly to shifting government orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. While steps are being taken to mitigate the impact of the virus on the most vulnerable, various forms of inequality entre

Berra Can • 7 min read

The Political Economy of Erdoğan’s Syria Gamble

The Turkish invasion of northern Syria, with President Trump's acquiescence, illustrates Turkish President Erdoğan’s authoritarian populist penchant for treating foreign policy as an extension of domestic crisis management.  But it will only further aggravate the interlinked economic and political problems facing the AKP-led government—regardless of whether

Şahan Savaş Karataşlı • 17 min read

Current Analysis

Autopsy of Erdoǧan’s Istanbul Defeat

Turkey's authoritarian President Erdoǧan’s attempt to manipulate Istanbul's recent mayoral election led to a humiliating defeat.  Despite the tight grip Erdoǧan and the AKP appear to have over Turkish politics, Turkey's population is much more fractious and agitated by the regime than previously kno

Steve Niva • 14 min read

Current Analysis

Turkish Voters Upset Erdoǧan’s Competitive Authoritarianism

Turkish voters sent a strong message to its long-standing ruling party and its leader on March 31, 2019 that the government’s authoritarian turn has not fully succeeded. In nationwide municipal elections, for the first time in a quarter century, the political movement largely associated with Turkey’

Steve Niva • 13 min read

MER Article

“It is still early to write the history of Gezi”

Mücella Yapıcı is an architect and activist, known for her work against urban renewal projects and environmental destruction in Turkey. She is the secretary and spokesperson of the activist group Taksim Solidarity, which was one of the leading organizations during the June 2013 Gezi Park protests. M

Mücella Yapıcı • 8 min read

MER Article

The Crisis of Religiosity in Turkish Islamism

In 2017 İhsan Fazlıoğlu, an Islamist professor of philosophy at Istanbul Medeniyet University, was visited by a group of concerned teachers and parents from the İmam Hatip high school (a government-funded secondary school that trains Muslim preachers) he once attended. The visitors wanted his advice

Mucahit Bilici • 9 min read

MER Article

The AKP’s Problem with Youth

Government-funded religious İmam Hatip schools have expanded considerably across Turkey since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to power in 2002: from 84,000 students in 450 schools in 2002 to 1.3 million students in over 4,000 schools by 2017. The Mi

Ayça Alemdaroğlu • 9 min read

MER Article

The Politics of Family Values in Erdogan’s New Turkey

Often peppered with religious references, “family values” rhetoric has become a trademark of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002. His frequent encouragement of early marriage and criticism of childless women illustrate an ever-exp

Hikmet Kocamaner • 12 min read

MER Article

The Contradictions of Turkey’s Rush to Energy

The Turkish energy sector—companies involved in the exploration and development of oil or gas reserves, drilling and refining, or integrated power utility companies including renewable energy, coal or nuclear power—has experienced major and systemic transformation and growth since the early 2000s un

Sinan Erensu • 11 min read

MER Article

Unequal Turkey Under Construction

Turkey has undergone major socio-economic transformations that have generated numerous contradictions since the 1980s. One of the most significant has been Turkey’s transformation from a predominately rural and agrarian society to a largely urban society as it enters the new millennium. The fast pac

Volkan Yilmaz • 8 min read

MER Article

Turkey’s Purge of Critical Academia

Academic freedom has always been limited and under threat by the state in Turkey. But since the beginning of 2016, academic freedom in Turkey—and the broader field of higher education—has been subject to a sustained campaign of state repression that is unprecedented in the history of the Turkish Rep

Muzaffer Kaya • 11 min read