Tag Archives: AKP

Turkey’s April 16 referendum will be long remembered as a turning point in the country’s political history.   Turks were asked to grant additional executive powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, bringing an end to the separation of powers. The 18 proposed constitutional amendments grant the Turkish president sweeping authority over the executive, legislative and judiciary branches, including power to …

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu seems to have understood the message given by the Turkish nation after the national election, and he is doing his best to form a coalition government; however, President Erdoğan is doing everything to prevent a coalition.

The 2011 Arab revolutions hugely effected Turkey's orientation towards the Middle East. Its foreign policy moved from a diplomatic, non-interference policy to an interventionist, revisionist one, even imperialist to some people. In terms of policymaking, Turkey resembled the US, relying on its military might to shape the direction of its foreign relations. But now it risks losing all its gains achieved in the last decade.

A little more than a decade ago, the Turkish Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and its main protagonist, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, celebrated a historic electoral victory. Founded in 2001, the AKP mobilized a broad alliance —consisting of religious and social conservatives, members of the newly emergent Anatolian middle class, and liberal Turks frustrated with the coalition government of the …