Contemporary Turkish Politics

 Turkey’s (Türkiye’s) regional identity has always been ambiguous and multifaceted. While Turkey is sometimes located within the Middle East in academic writings, media reporting, and country analyses, at other times, it is listed among the countries of Europe. In fact, Turkish Republic has always been at the margins of Europe. Developments in Turkey had an impact on European societies while the political dynamics in Europe have always affected Turkey. This course not only reviews Turkey’s unique relationship with Europe but also the international and domestic political developments that preceded democratic and authoritarian practices in Turkey by highlighting critical themes such as westernization, liberalism, secularism, the role of the military, gender, minorities, migration, citizenship, electoral authoritarianism and autocratic legalism.