• World
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Central & South Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America & Caribbean
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • North America
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
    • US Election
    • US politics
    • Joe Biden
    • Brexit
    • European Union
    • India
    • Arab world
  • Economics
    • Finance
    • Eurozone
    • International Trade
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Startups
    • Technology
  • Culture
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Film
    • Books
    • Travel
  • Environment
    • Climate change
    • Smart cities
    • Green Economy
  • Global Change
    • Education
    • Refugee Crisis
    • International Aid
    • Human Rights
  • International Security
    • ISIS
    • War on Terror
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons
  • Science
    • Health
  • 360 °
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice
  • About
  • FO Store
Sections
  • World
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Sign Up
  • Login
  • Publish

Make Sense of the world

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Close

In an Era of Strongman Politics, Turkey Is Hard to Call

Much like the country he leads, President Erdogan, on closer inspection, is something of an oddity in international politics.
By Nathaniel Handy • Apr 15, 2020
Nathaniel Handy, Turkey news, Turkey foreign policy, Turkey political news, Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan news, Erdogan religious, Turkey Middle East news, Turkey Russia news, Erdogan Putin relationship

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at a rally in Istanbul, Turkey, 9/20/2015 © Orlok / Shutterstock

We are told we live in an era of strongmen. The narrative also runs that these strongmen stick together. From the cozy relationship between China and Russia at the UN Security Council — led by Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin — to the mutual support of the likes of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egypt’s Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. Even US President Donald Trump — though no strongman in the autocratic sense — has voiced his approval of such leaders.

A regular on this list of autocratic strongmen riding a wave of neo-nationalist illiberalism is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On the face of things, it’s easy to lump him in with the others — and most media portrayals do — but much like the country he leads, he is, on closer inspection, something of an oddity in international politics.

Turkish Exceptionalism

Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising. After all, Turkey is one of those nation-states linked to an imperial past that encourages a good dose of exceptionalism. In its region, perhaps only Iran holds a resemblance. Turkey is not of the Arab world, nor is it truly European. Neither is it in the Russian orbit. It is a place apart, much like Iran.

logo

Make Sense of the World

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Make Sense of the World
Unique insights from 2000+ contributors in 80+ countries

And when we turn to its foreign policy under the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which equates to its policy under the guidance of President Erdogan, we find a contrary type of strongman politics. Erdogan is far from a regular member of the dictators’ club. In fact, he shuns strongmen, from Egypt’s al-Sisi and Saudi Arabia’s bin Salman to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and would-be Libyan strongman, General Khalifa Haftar.

Perhaps President Erdogan’s most comfortable – if still uneasy – strongman relationship is with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Yet in foreign policy, Turkey does not emulate Russia. The overt Russian nationalism that has allowed President Putin to project power beyond Russia’s borders under the guise of protecting ethnic Russians abroad is not the central feature of Turkish policy.

Clearly, Turkey expresses an interest in the affairs of Turkish minorities in countries such as Bulgaria, but as a wider policy, ethnic nationalism is not a feature of the Turkish administrations of the 21st century. From Xinjiang to Myanmar, Somalia to Libya, if there is a constant, it is a pan-Islamic fraternity that is emphasized.

During the formative era of republican Turkey, under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a strand of Eurasianism was highly influential in Turkey that saw the wider Turkic world as a natural focus for foreign policy. Turkish political thinkers were keen to engage Turkic kin in an expressly ethnic nationalist discourse. In contrast, recent Turkish governments have focused on a cultural and religious fraternity over a purely racial one.

Who Directs Turkey?

Given that President Erdogan is often regarded as a populist, nationalist figure, how is this lack of ethnic nationalist focus explained in Turkish foreign policy? It could be argued that President Erdogan is not the sole source of Turkish policy. Other forces can influence the direction of Turkish external relations.

Yet, if Turkish foreign policy is based in a sense of pan-Islamic unity, is that not closer to the thinking of those leading the Islamic Republic of Iran? Again, many divides exist. Most obviously, the two regimes are on opposite sides of Islam’s schism between the Sunni and the Shia. Also, President Erdogan may be a devout man, but he is no theologian.

Indeed, Turkey and Iran are on opposite sides in the most acute conflict facing Turkey right now, that of the Syrian Civil War. So then, who is on Turkey’s side? Well, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, with whom Turkey is also aligned in Libya’s Civil War. This relationship points to the wider Turkish support for political Islam in the form of the Muslim Brotherhood, but does that make Qatar and Turkey true bedfellows? President Erdogan may not be a mullah, but he is also not a hereditary monarch.

Perhaps what Turkey opposes and supports externally is best understood by looking inside Turkey? Until you appreciate the inner workings of the Turkish state, its external positions can appear opaque.

Over the past decade, the Turkish AKP governments have been seen to restrict the civic space inside the country, suppressing opposition, particularly from parties with a Kurdish political platform. In the wake of the failed coup of 2016, there has been a systematic attempt to suppress and exclude supporters of the Gulenist movement of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Revolutionary Break

Yet despite these illiberal moves, Turkey is at loggerheads with illiberal leaders across its region. It must be remembered that President Erdogan is not an autocrat in the way others are. He is a populist, certainly, but he is a popularly elected president. The extent to which opposition to tyranny — whether in Egypt, Syria, Libya or elsewhere — is tied up with the popular legitimacy of the ruling AKP in Turkey should not be underestimated.

Embed from Getty Images

Turkey has a long history of illiberalism. To many, that makes the era of President Erdogan one of continuity rather than change. Yet that history of illiberalism has been one of secular-military, not Islamic, oppression. Turkey’s history is that of forcible Kemalist Westernization and military coups to prop up secular elites.

In that context, Erdogan and his party still represent a radical, almost revolutionary break in the history of their neighborhood. They aren’t an Islamic theocracy, nor are they a secular autocracy. Instead, they are a popularly elected Islamic movement that thrives on being seen to be in tune with the ordinary people on the street — something in stark contrast to many regimes in Turkey’s immediate neighborhood.

All this makes Turkey hard to call. Many have speculated that the current pandemic is a boon to autocracies keen to control their populations and restrict their movements. It is assumed by many that Turkey and its president fall nicely under that umbrella. Yet Turkey is still a democracy, and the drivers of Turkish foreign policy are complex, and Turkey’s position and history unique.

What will work for other strongmen might well not work for Turkey’s president. It’s easy to try dividing the world into liberal and illiberal camps, but ultimately, each political entity is at the mercy of its own forces, both internal and external. In the case of Turkey, those forces are particularly unusual, and its position particularly acute. The next few years will be a testing time for this extraordinary nation.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Share Story
CategoriesArab world, Insight, Middle East & North Africa, Middle East News, Politics, Recep Tayyip Erdogan news, Turkey News, World Leaders News, World News TagsIran news, Kemalist Turkey, Middle East politics news, Nathaniel Handy, President Erdogan Turkey, strongman politics, Turkey foreign policy news, Turkey illiberal democracy, Turkey illiberalism, Turkey news
Join our network of more than 2,000 contributors to publish your perspective, share your story and shape the global conversation. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world.

Fair Observer Recommends

Iran and the New Geopolitical Reality in Azerbaijan Iran and the New Geopolitical Reality in Azerbaijan
By Gulf State Analytics • Apr 01, 2021
Will Iran Take Over the Ottoman Mantle in the Middle East? Will Iran Take Over the Ottoman Mantle in the Middle East?
By Ian McCredie • Feb 26, 2021
Biden Should Rejoin the Iran Deal Before It’s Too Late Biden Should Rejoin the Iran Deal Before It’s Too Late
By Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J.S. Davies • Feb 25, 2021

Post navigation

Previous PostPrevious How the Middle East Reacts to the Coronavirus Pandemic
Next PostNext What Happens When We Don’t Know the Truth?
Subscribe
Register for $9.99 per month and become a member today.
Publish
Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.
Donate
We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Explore

  • About
  • Authors
  • FO Store
  • FAQs
  • Republish
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Regions

  • Africa
  • Asia Pacific
  • Central & South Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • North America

Topics

  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Global Change
  • International Security
  • Science

Sections

  • 360°
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice

Daily Dispatch


© Fair Observer All rights reserved
We Need Your Consent
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Learn more about how we use cookies or edit your cookie preferences. Privacy Policy. My Options I Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Edit Cookie Preferences

The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.

As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media.

 
Necessary
Always Enabled

These cookies essential for the website to function.

Analytics

These cookies track our website’s performance and also help us to continuously improve the experience we provide to you.

Performance
Uncategorized

This cookie consists of the word “yes” to enable us to remember your acceptance of the site cookie notification, and prevents it from displaying to you in future.

Preferences
Save & Accept