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Turkey and the West
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Turkey and the West

Fault Lines in a Troubled Alliance

Kemal Kirisci
Brookings Institution Press, 2017

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Only a decade ago, Turkey seemed an oasis of tranquility and Western-style liberalism in the Middle East. No longer. These days, under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey is as a belligerent force, and certainly no friend of Western values. Erdoğan could change, writes Turkey expert Kemal Kirişci, but such a dramatic about-face seems unlikely. In this study – written before the election of June 2018, which saw Erdoğan win another five-year term – Kirişci laments Turkey’s turn toward authoritarianism as a missed opportunity. The Untied States and the European Union were tantalizingly close to having a like-minded ally in the Middle East, a secular Muslim nation that could show the rest of the region how to run a democracy and a free-market economy. Alas, Kirişci writes, that dream now seems farfetched. Erdoğan has cracked down on Kurds, journalists and other foes, and anti-Western conspiracy theories circulate widely. getAbstract recommends this study to readers seeking insight into Turkey’s politics and the rise of populist nationalism.

Take-Aways

  • The West once viewed Turkey as an oasis of democracy and economic stability. 
  • Under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey has turned away from religious freedom and civil liberties and has alienated the United States and the European Union.
  • Turkey has no shortage of conspiracy theories that paint the West as a villain.

About the Author

Kemal Kirişci is a senior fellow and director of the Center on the United States and Europe’s Turkey Project at Brookings, where he focuses on Turkish foreign policy and migration studies.

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