Authoritarianism in Turkey: From “Kemalism to Erdoganism” via Democratic Reforms and Economic Development

During the 1990s Turkish society experienced political instability and freedom deficiencies that were followed by a financial crisis in 2001. The socio-political and economic conditions were quite similar to those that sparked the Arab uprisings in late 2010 and thus they could have well led Turkey to disarray. The reforms introduced by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the 2000s, are considered as the main reasons why the Turkish state was “rescued”. Since then, however, a series of governmental policies have reversed this process and given rise to a situation where Turkish politics looks a lot like remind us of “old Turkey” albeit under a different ideological veil