Turkey’s Uncertain Path
MAY 7, 2019 | INTEL BRIEF
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Turkish President Erdogan has always sought to outwardly present himself as a strong leader, especially in matters of foreign and security policy, as he continues to edge Turkey further away from the West. Domestically, however, his image has been increasingly sullied over the past year. Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have consolidated power, especially over the last decade, centralizing authority to a degree previously unseen in modern Turkey. Restrictions on the press, and the widespread jailing of journalists, political opponents, and academics—especially in the years since the failed 2015 coup—are now a quotidian tool of Erdogan and the AKP. Criticizing Erdogan comes with considerable risk, which was a tradeoff some seemed willing to accept with a booming Turkish economy. But a deeply struggling economy has fueled the credible political opposition to Erdogan that had been stifled for years.
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