Turkey is blessed with a favourable geography. It straddles Asia and Europe, is surrounded by sea on three sides, controls the only link to the Black Sea, and has moderate climatic conditions, abundant energy resources in its neighbourhood and a defensible terrain. It also has the civilisational and historical past, having ruled over large swathes of territory including North Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans, Caucasus and Central Europe in the heyday of the Ottoman Empire.
The Ghost of September 12 in Turkey
From a broader perspective, the referendum and the debates around it should be seen as the latest example of the domestic transformation of Turkish politics especially since the AKP came to power in 2002.