ABSTRACT

Under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey has descended into a dictatorship, promotes the Islamist agenda, abuses human rights, limits freedom of expression in the press, and wages war against the Kurds. While Turkey has historically been important geopolitically, it has become an outlier in Europe and an uncertain ally of the United States.

An Uncertain Ally is a straightforward indictment of Erdogan. Drawing on inside sources in his Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the police, the book reveals corruption and money laundering schemes that benefitted Erdogan, his cronies, and family members. Erdogan has polarized Turkish society and created conditions that led to the coup attempt of July 2016. He has also deepened divisions by accusing Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic teacher in Pennsylvania, of establishing a parallel state and masterminding the coup attempt. Erdogan has seized on the failed coup to justify a witch hunt, arresting thousands and ordering the wholesale dismissal of alleged coup sympathizers. Rather than foster reconciliation, he pursued vendettas and turned Turkey into a gulag.

An Uncertain Ally exposes Turkey’s ties to jihadists in Syria and the Islamic State, questioning its suitability as a NATO member. Under Erdogan, Turkey faces a dark future that poses a danger to the region and internationally.

part |2 pages

Part I. Domestic Issues

chapter 1|12 pages

Erdogan

chapter 2|18 pages

Secularism

chapter 3|12 pages

Human Rights

chapter 4|12 pages

Corruption

chapter 5|20 pages

The Kurdish Question

part |2 pages

Part II. Regional Conflicts

chapter 6|10 pages

The Iraq War

chapter 7|28 pages

Zero Problems with Neighbors

chapter 8|18 pages

The Syrian Quagmire

chapter 9|16 pages

Terror Ties

part |2 pages

Part III. Crackdown

chapter 10|12 pages

Consolidation

chapter 11|12 pages

Under Siege

chapter 12|10 pages

Ending Exceptionalism