The Middle East Institute’s Turkey Program is proud to present an event to discuss the complex post-election dynamics currently roiling Turkey. As President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proposes drafting a new constitution, his opponents fear he will take the country in an even more conservative and authoritarian direction. What is Erdoğan’s conception for the country and how do his latest policy steps fit into that vision? What does the Turkish opposition’s disarray mean for Erdoğan’s efforts to consolidate his autocracy?
Turkey’s May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections will have serious consequences for the country’s democracy and the economic well-being of its citizens. The results will also shape Turkey’s foreign policy and relations with its Arab neighbors, which have evolved dramatically over the past two years following Ankara’s detente with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia after a decade of tension.
Please join Gönül Tol, Director of MEI’s Turkey Program, for a discussion of her newest book, Erdoğan’s War: A Strongman’s Struggle at Home and in Syria. In conversation with Robert Worth, New York Times, Tol will discuss Erdoğan’s ideological evolution from a conservative democrat to an Islamist and Turkish nationalist, as well as how his ideological transformation impacts policy on Syria and Turkey’s wars. A light lunch will be served. Speakers