TURKISH STUDIES

Compiled by Middle East Forum web editor Gary C. Gambill

Copyright: www.meforum.org - Republished on RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 14 November 2015

The victory of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in a November 1 snap election took most informed observers by surprise.
Less than five months after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in a regularly scheduled legislative election in June, the AKP captured 317 of 550 seats on this second try, securing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's grip on power through at least 2019. How did this turnabout happen?.. Read More

Anthony Derisiotis (PhD)
(Lecturer in Turkish Foreign Policy, Department of Turkish and Modern Asian Studies, School of Economics and Political Sciences, University of Athens, GR)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 8 November 2015

After 5 turbulent months and contrary to expectations that it will again fall short of winning the majority vote, the Justice and Development party secured 49.4% of the vote and 317 seats in the 550-seat Turkish parliament, thus securing a generous majority but not the 367 seats that would pave the road for the government to proceed to the transition to a presidential system, or the 330 seats that would allow a referendum, in line with President Erdoğan's aspirations. The Republican People's party, which is the main opposition, did not succeed substantial improvement, whereas the nationalistic MHP and the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) saw their votes dropping sharply...Read more

Nickolaos Mavromates, "Turkey's Election Results and Tayyip Erdogan's Alternative Scenarios", RIEAS: Research Paper, No. 167, (July-August 2015).

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Theodora Papatheodorou
(RIEAS Research Associate)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication Date: 28 March 2015

Introduction

In November 2002 and July 2007 the Turkish electorate voted for the Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AK Parti) demonstrating a great risk for broad political change. There was some doubt whether a modern democratic party with deep roots in political Islam was in the position to expand liberties and preserve the democratic system. The AKP had been described as an "Islamist or Islamic party", "fundamentalist party", "party with Islamic roots" or, as the economist called it "Mildly Islamist". Nowadays, several authors use the phrase "democratura" in order to explain the new model of the Justice and Development Party and its political choices and tactics...Read more

Ariel González Levaggi
( Ph.D. student at Koç University in Istanbul. Turkey)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication Date: 1 March 2015

The international system is in the middle of a transitional age. The non-Western world is rising and there are plenty of examples about the rise of a novel geopolitical axis. Unipolarism, beyond the role of US as the main great power, does not mirror the real condition of the World Order On the contrary, there is a rising multipolarism exemplified in the alteration of the sources of power from the traditional Western nations to emerging powers, from the "developed" North to Global South and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. China as the second military – based on annual military expenditure - and economic - GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) power, is the best example of the geopolitical axis alteration. In this context, Turkey and Latin America are not secondary players in this game and both have strong bets to promote their normative values, gain more strategic autonomy and achieve a more prominent role in the concert of nations. The recent visit of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Colombia, Cuba and Mexico is an important indicator of the growing ties... Read more

Markos Troulis
(PhD Candidate, University of Piraeus (Greece)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) – Publication date: 6 January 2015.

On the 28th of August, Ahmet Davutoğlu became the new Prime Minister of Turkey succeeding Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and giving his position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. Erdoğan's Turkey emerged as a new challenger for regional hegemony and the new heads of Turkey's foreign policy are undoubtedly working toward this goal. Davutoğlu's promotion to prime minister seems to come as a reward for his foreign policy initiatives up to now, while Çavuşoğlu's move from the Ministry of EU Affairs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reflects AKP leadership's satisfaction for his stance on the issue of Turkey's EU candidacy....Read more