Elections and Earthquakes: Quo Vadis Turkey

Book excerpt: Where does Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s resilience derive from? Why did he, and the AKP, win the double May 2023 elections again? How did the opposition perform? What were the opposition’s mistakes? How will domestic and foreign policy issues unfold after the elections? These are just a few of the questions the present collection tries to answer. Demonstrating how Turkey’s politics have developed the present volume brings together approaches from politics, sociology, and history, and sheds much-needed light on these crucial questions. They offer scholars and non-specialists alike a comprehensive overview of the implications of the recent elections in almost every aspect of Turkish society. Finally, the chapters that are hosted here provide informed deliberations about Turkey’s future. "This collective volume sheds new light on the durability of the Erdoğan regime despite the heavy crises Turkey is going through, and more importantly, shows the limits of an opposition that is unable to propose a democratic transformation of the country, to become a credible alternative to it." - Prof. Hamit Bozarslan, EHESS, Paris This timely collection features some of the sharpest voices in and on Turkey today, packaged in short, digestible chapters. Coverage includes the role of ideology, incumbent and opposition alliances, the economy, devastating earthquakes, minorities, youth, and relations with external actors like Greece and the European Union. The book will help students and experts alike to make sense of the multi-faceted causes and consequences of a milestone in Turkey's trajectory: 2023 elections and their implications for the country, its region, and the world. - Assoc. Prof. Nora Fisher Onar, University of San Francisco, San Francisco. CONTENTS Preface HOW TO MISREAD TURKISH FASCISM... Cengiz Aktar BEFORE AND AFTER THE 2023 (DOUBLE) MAY ELECTIONS: QUO VADIS TURKEY?. Nikos Christofis TWO FACES OF ERDOĞANISM: RADICAL CONSERVATISM AND VINDICTIVE NATIONALISM... Ahmet İnsel GRAPE FRUIT COCKTAIL FOR SWEET FRUIT ADDICTS: THE STRATEGY OF NATION ALLIANCE.. Ayşe Çavdar THE FANTASY OF OPPOSITION COORDINATION AND DEMOCRACY WITHOUT DEMOCRATS 2.0: TURKEY AFTER THE ELECTIONS. Kerem Öktem THE OPPOSITION ALLIANCE IN TURKEY’S 2023 ELECTIONS. Berk Esen THE 2023 TURKISH ELECTIONS AND THE KURDS. Murat Issi VICTORY, EVEN IN DEFEAT: ÜMIT ÖZDAĞ, SINAN OĞAN, AND THE ENDURING INFLUENCE OF THE TURKISH FAR-RIGHT.. Reuben Silverman THE LEFT IN TURKEY: SURVIVAL AND RESISTANCE UNDER AUTHORITARIANISM... Sevgi Adak YOUTH POLITICS AND ACTIVISM IN TURKEY.. Bahar Baser TURKEY’S ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AFTER THE 2023 ELECTIONS: IS THE WORST YET TO COME?. Aslı Sen Taşbaşı LAISSEZ-FAIRE LAISSEZ-MOURIR: EARTHQUAKE ON 6 FEBRUARY 2023 AND CAPITALISM THAT DISCARDS AND DISASSOCIATES CITIZENS IN ERDOGAN’S TURKEY.. Kumru Toktamış DISASTER AND GENDER INEQUALITY KILLS, NOT EARTHQUAKES Özgür Kaymak THE 2023 ELECTIONS IN TURKEY AND THE TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS: FACTS, POSSIBILITIES AND CONCLUSIONS. Anthony Deriziotis EU-TURKEY RELATIONS IN A “DANGEROUS WORLD”: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES AFTER THE 2023 ELECTIONS IN TURKEY.. Seda Gürkan Oscillating Between Securitization and Transactionalism: The Everlasting DRAMA OF TURKEY-WEST RELATIONS. Alper Kaliber