What Erdoğan’s Victory Means for Turkey

PRIO's Peace in a Pod

On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has extended his rule into a third decade, beating his rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a bitter presidential race.

The run-off victory caps an extraordinary campaign for Erdoğan who had hoped for a swift win. However, sky-rocketing inflation, a devastating earthquake and a united opposition left him vulnerable at the ballot box.

For two decades, Erdoğan has loomed large over Turkish politics, gradually concentrating powers and cracking down on his political opponents and critics. Abroad, the election was closely followed by Turkey’s NATO allies, and in Moscow, where the Turkish president maintains close ties with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

So what does Erdoğan’s victory mean for Turks and for the country’s foreign policy?

In this episode of PRIO’s Peace in a Pod, host Arnaud Siad talks to PRIO Senior Researcher Pinar Tank, a specialist of Turkish domestic and foreign policy. They are joined by Ilhan Uzgel, a professor of International Relations formerly at Ankara University, who lost his academic position after being dismissed by a presidential decree in 2017.

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