For more than a year, Turkey has been confronted with a multi-layered political crisis with the future of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in balance. However, Erdogan's victory in nationwide municipal elections held in March indicate that he may adopt an even tougher line on his opponents, including some within AKP who have reservations about his allegedly autocratic style. It is with renewed self-confidence that Erdogan enters a year-long campaign for parliamentary and presidential elections. Erdogan's belief that voters have endorsed his non-compromise stance might well intensify the nation's decades old identity crisis, the root-cause of rising political and social tensions in the country.
Featuring:
Mr. Marat Köprülü, Chairman, The American Turkish Society
Photos courtesy of Namisha Bansal.
