The coup has seriously dented Turkey’s image as a stable, secular, progressive and prosperous country. And Erdogan's witch-hunt has tarnished the country's reputation and credibility. Turkey’s polity and economy will take a long time to recover from the crippling attrition of recent days.
Erdogan and Gulen were allies until 2013 when a corruption scandal erupted and Gulen’s followers in the judiciary and police investigated ministers and officials close to Erdogan.
The June 28 attack on Ataturk airport, as also the Zaventem attack in Brussels, have highlighted the security lacunae in all airports, which do not monitor the arrival terminals.
The only effective way to stop the flow of refugees is for Turkey to confiscate all boats or use brute force to prevent Syrians from going to the coast.
The AKP needs to go over the fundamentals of its decade long success in the country before it charts its future course. Its success in the previous decade was built on the pillars of national consolidation, economic growth and religious tolerance.
This article aims to delve into the patterns of convergence and divergence of interests among three key regional players in the Middle East: the Russian Federation, Turkey and Iran.
In the West, there is growing realisation that only boots on the ground can defeat or substantially destroy the Daesh. Unless a ground force capable of taking back the territories seized by the Daesh arrives on the scene, the advantage will lie with the jihadis.
Turkey is one of the major regional powers in West Asia. Born from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey has taken time to consolidate and establish itself as a prosperous modern state. It has overcome military coups and economic crisis in past decades and is now emerging as revitalized country with a host of opportunities for expansion. The countries of the region have often seen it with contempt and suspicion due to the Ottoman legacy as also its Western orientation in earlier part of its short modern history.
Whither Turkey?
Turkey is going where President Erdogan wants to take it to, as those who do not agree with him are too intimidated to stand in his way.