Turkey Is in Serious Trouble
The country has seen periods of turmoil before. But this time may be different.
A nationalist demonstration in Istanbul, Turkey Osman Orsal / Reuters
Soner Cagaptay 2:07 PM ET
I am usually an optimist when it comes to Turkey’s future. Indeed, I wrote a whole book about The Rise of Turkey. But these days, I’m worried. The country faces a toxic combination of political polarization, government instability, economic slowdown, and threats of violence—from both inside and outside Turkey—that could soon add up to a catastrophe. The likelihood of that outcome is increasing amid Russia’s bombing raids in Syria in support of its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which threaten to debilitate the moderate rebels and boost the extremists in Syria’s civil war, while leaving Turkey to deal with two unruly neighbors: Assad and ISIS.
More:From ISIS to the Kurds to Erdogan: Why Turkey Is in Serious Trouble - The Atlantic