Publication

This paper gives an overview of the main issues facing Turkey. After drawing a brief historical sketch the authors examine the main developments of the first decade of the 21st century, in such fields as politics and the constitution, the Kurdish issue, foreign policy, armed forces, economics and relations with the EU. They argue that the central question is whether the government can reconcile the demands of religious conservatism with the secularist principles of the Turkish Republic and respect for individual freedoms including religious expression.