ABSTRACT
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to power in 2003 promising an era of liberalization and openness. Rather than governing with a broad coalition, however, he has opted to eke out narrow victories that ensure him continued political control without the burden of reaching out to the opposition. There are three basic components of this success. First, he is a politician of considerable genius, with a remarkable capacity to embody and communicate the hopes and aspirations of millions of Turkish citizens. Second, his government worked assiduously to co-opt and control key institutions. Third, Erdoğan is adept at the politics of division and has been able to capitalize on challenges to his rule in ways that have rallied his base and left the opposition open to repressive measures. Under Erdoğan’s rule, Turkey has moved from a flawed, but promising democracy to authoritarianism with shocking speed.
