Turkey

Policy Analysis on Turkey

Just as cabinet members once followed Ataturk's sartorial lead, AKP officials today robe themselves in the casual blue tartan suit favored by President Erdogan.

Sep 4, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay
Oya Aktas

Articles & Testimony

Turkey's Complicated Relationship with the Middle East, Explained by One Word

The Eid holiday highlights Turkey's almost complete lack of allies in the Middle East.

Sep 2, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay
Nick Danforth

Maps & Graphics

Brief Analysis

Preventing a Jihadist Factory in Idlib

The international coalition must take the same comprehensive approach to HTS as it is taking to the Islamic State.

Aug 31, 2017

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Fabrice Balanche

Brief Analysis

Is Turkey's Rapprochement with Iran and Russia Sustainable?

A lasting Turkish shift toward Tehran and Moscow would require a perfect storm, but anti-U.S. sentiments in the country offer reason for concern.

Aug 30, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay

Turkish president Erdogan - Source: Reuters

Turkey Has Lost Its Biggest Cheerleader: The U.S. Military

A discussion of Ankara's strained relationship with the European Union, its a la carte approach to NATO, and the weakening of formerly solid U.S.-Turkey military-to-military ties.

Aug 4, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay

Video

Brief Analysis

Turkey and the Failed Coup One Year Later

Watch three expert observers examine a divided Turkey one year after the failed military coup of 2016.

Jul 20, 2017

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Omer Taspinar
Soner Cagaptay
James Jeffrey

Articles & Testimony

Turkey Can Ally with Syria's Kurds Someday

Most Kurds are now seeking rights in their respective countries, while downplaying the pan-Kurdish dream, giving Turkey more room to separate the PYD from the PKK instead of lumping them together.

Jul 18, 2017

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David Pollock

Articles & Testimony

The Loneliness of Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Erdogan's lifelong resentment of secularists has decimated Turkish democracy.

Jul 15, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech

Articles & Testimony

One Year on from the Failed Coup, Recep Tayyip Erdogan Is More Autocratic than Ever

The Turkish president is taking steps to end democracy itself in Turkey, further polarizing an already sharply divided country.

Jul 8, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay

Articles & Testimony

How Erdoganism Is Killing Turkish Democracy

Because Erdogan's approach delegitimizes all opposition, 40 million of the country's 80 million inhabitants are left on the outside, a recipe for national social upheaval not seen since the late 1970s.

Jul 7, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay
Oya Aktas

Articles & Testimony

The Death of Democracy in Turkey

President Erdogan has catapulted his country into crisis through his attempt to stay in power.

Jun 29, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay

Articles & Testimony

Turkey's Waiting Game in Sinjar

From Ankara's perspective, an optimal outcome may ultimately involve using soft power, rather than actual force, to remove its Kurdish PKK and YPG adversaries from the district.

Jun 27, 2017

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Michael Knights

Brief Analysis

Rojava's Future: Four Models Explained

As Washington considers its next steps in northern Syria, it will need to weigh the geostrategic consequences of backing local Kurdish forces whose objectives may align or conflict with those of Russia, Iran, and various other actors.

Jun 5, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay

Did Trump Give Erdogan License to Kill PKK Militants Inside Iraq?

A Turkey expert reads between the lines of the latest meeting between the two presidents, assessing whether policy changes are afoot on Syria, the Kurds, and other issues.

May 24, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay

Maps & Graphics

Brief Analysis

The Kurdish Path to Socialism in Syria

To maintain its dominant position and stay true to its ideological roots, the PYD is pushing socialist policies on a skeptical Rojava populace, with uncertain consequences for the future of the Syrian Kurdish zone.

May 16, 2017

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Fabrice Balanche

Articles & Testimony

Why the Turkish President's Biography Should Tell Trump Everything He Needs to Know

Erdogan has always wanted to take revenge on the system that repeatedly persecuted Turkey's Islamist movement, his first political home.

May 12, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay

Brief Analysis

Reaching a U.S.-Turkish Deal in Syria: Four Steps

Erdogan may be willing to give President Trump a free hand in Raqqa, but only if Washington supports Turkish action against the PKK in Sinjar and continues the conversation on Fethullah Gulen.

May 12, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay

Articles & Testimony

Trump's Plan to Arm Kurds Lays Bare the Strategic Vacuum in Syria

The administration's plan to retake Raqqa from the Islamic State could further inflame tensions with Turkey and Iran.

May 9, 2017

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James Jeffrey

Articles & Testimony

Transactional or Transcendent? Turkey's Ties to the European Union

The West's relationship with Ankara will become increasingly cold as long as populist leaders on both sides continue polarizing their constituents with anti-Muslim and anti-Western rhetoric.

May 8, 2017

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Soner Cagaptay
Oya Aktas

Brief Analysis

A Kurdish Referendum: Unforeseen Benefits

The KRG's independence referendum should be treated as a tactical bid to unify the Iraqi Kurds and strengthen their position toward Baghdad, but without jettisoning their gradualist approach.

May 3, 2017

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Bilal Wahab
Rebwar Karim Mahmood

Supported by the

Turkish Research Program

Since its inception in 1995, The Washington Institute's Turkish Research Program has established itself as the most influential center in Washington for research and information on Turkey -- a predominantly Muslim, secular, and democratic U.S. ally.

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Soner Cagaptay

Soner Cagaptay is the Beyer Family Senior Fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute.

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Turkey

Policy Analysis on Turkey

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Regions & Countries

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Policy Analysis on Turkey

Turkish Research Program

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