Publication

This paper assesses the developments of Turkish politics since the AKP party took over in 2002. The author argues that although there were rapid economic and democratic reforms in the first decade of the AKP’s rule, legal and democratic standards quickly deteriorated after 2013. This went hand in hand with a stronger Turkish focus on the Middle East, resentment towards the West and an increasingly polarized population. The author concludes, however, that this trajectory could change again should economic turbulence upset the AKP’s power.