Erdoğan's Turkey: Peace Built on Sand?

Abstract

Since the inception of the Republic of Turkey, its history has been rife with political conflicts: authoritarian control, military coups, ideological clashes, and unstable coalition governments. Erdoğan's rise to power in the past 15 years has changed the Turkish political landscape, with Erdoğan being revered by his supporters almost like a neo-Sultan. This article provides a brief historical discussion and discusses the political context of Erdoğan's rise to power. Given Erdoğan's majoritarian politics and the resulting socio-economic problems, political division, and radicalization of the insurgency, this paper argues that peace in Turkey may be maintained only in the foreseeable future but the country is susceptible to conflict and political instability in the long run.