Erdogan’s Chinese Gamble
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is betting big on China.
By Ilan Berman
October 04, 2019
For over a year now, Turkey has lurched toward full blown economic crisis, propelled by a major devaluation of the national currency and ballooning external debt. These economic troubles have come at a significant political cost for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP). In its August survey of Turkish public opinion, polling firm MetroPOLL found that Erdogan’s once-robust approval rating had dropped to 44 percent – down nearly 10 points from a year earlier. And this summer, the Turkish electorate delivered Erdogan’s government a very public rebuke when it voted resoundingly to confirm opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu as mayor of Istanbul in a re-run of the country’s contested regional elections. The bloom, it seems, has well and truly come off Erdogan’s rose.
More:Erdogan’s Chinese Gamble – The Diplomat