Who: Gonul Tol, Middle East Institute
Date: December 11, 2023
Topic: “Turkey at the Centennial: From an Imperfect Democracy to Outright Autocracy?”
Time: 5:30pm Reception | 6:00pm Presentation | 7:30pm Member Dinner
Cost: Members are Free | $20 non-member zoom or in-person access
Location: StoneRidge, 186 Jerry Browne Road, Mystic, CT 06355
IMPORTANT: StoneRidge Residents must contact Michael Langois to make dinner reservations at mlangois@stoneridgerc.com.
Click here to learn about Gonul Tol
The Turkish Republic has turned 100 years old. The founding elite who carried out the most radical secularization reforms in the Muslim world imagined the new republic as an ethnically homogenous, modern, secular country. That vision has been challenged many times by various segments of the country. The most significant of them, however, the one led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who took over an imperfect democracy and turned it into an autocracy where religious brotherhoods hold unprecedented power in society and bureaucratic institutions of the country. The idea of an “ethnically homogenous nation” has been dealt the biggest blow thanks to the presence of millions of Syrian refugees. What do all these things mean for the future and prospects for a liberal democratic Turkey?