by Spyros A. Sofos republished from the Edge Hill University Institute for Social Responsibility website Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ’s 2018 presidential election victory appeared to seal his party’s domination over Turkey’s politics until the end of his term in 2023, or even 2028. Since this victory however, he has presided over an ailing economy. The Turkish lira has plummeted , foreign reserves have shrunk as the Central bank intervened to stabilise the currency , and external debt mounted until Qatar, in May 2020 gave the country’s economy a temporary reprieve . Concurrently, a number of “rising stars” are waiting in the wings. These include the, 2019 İstanbul mayoral election winner, Ekrem İmamoğlu , and former Erdoğan ally Ali Babacan . They are both preparing for the post-Erdoğan era by cultivating their charisma and political capital, causing concerns over Erdoğan’s re-election chances. Erdoğan sought to deflect attention from the country’s woes through a co
from triglav to caucasus
Commentary on the political and cultural developments in Southeastern Europe