New POMED Policy Brief: Shifting the Focus: Consolidating Democracy in Post-Election Turkey

Turkey’s parliamentary elections on June 12 resulted in a resounding victory for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which won its third straight election and again increased its share of the national vote. In the latest POMED policy brief, journalist and analyst Yigal Schleifer describes the evolution of the AKP since coming to power and provides recommendations for U.S. policymakers. Click here for the full text, and click here to sign up to receive future briefs via email.

During its first two terms in office, the AKP projected the image of an aggrieved outsider, while overseeing major economic and political reforms that eviscerated the power of the entrenched elite and secured rights for the downtrodden. Yet recently, the AKP and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have raised alarm by veering away from reforms and adopting a more intolerant attitude, a trend starkly apparent in Erdogan’s bristling campaign rhetoric.

While the United States has recently been most concerned about an eastward shift in Turkish foreign policy, it should focus more on domestic developments to ensure that Turkey continues on the path of reform. This should include encouraging Turkey to resolve the Kurdish issue and to reinvigorate the EU accession process by taking bold steps on the Cyprus dispute.