Turkey’s challenges
Great Decisions 2014 | Topic 3
As the clashes between secular and religious groups and the recent protests in Taksim Square show, the soul of Turkey is still very much up for grabs.
Turkey: a nation at a crossroads, a bridge over an ever-growing chasm between the East and West. Turkey’s first Prime Minister Kemal Ataturk envisioned a modern, democratic nation-state built on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire with strong ties to Europe, not the Middle East. But as the clashes between secular and religious groups and the recent protests in Taksim Square show, the soul of Turkey is still very much up for grabs.
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Recommended Readings
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Turkey, Islamism, Nationalism and Modernity
Findley’s comprehensive examination of the last two centuries of Turkish history reveals how the modern Turkish state came to be.
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The Emergence of Modern Turkey
Bernard Lewis’ book grounds itself in history’s turbulent past but looks forward to modern issues like Turkey’s Western orientation, its struggles to join the EU, and its struggles with Islamic fundamentalists.
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Global Turkey in Europe. Political, Economic, and Foreign Policy Dimensions of Turkey's Evolving Relationship with the EU
A collection of scholarly essays detailing how the relations between Turkey and the EU have evolved over the past several years.
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The Rise of Turkey: The Twenty-First Century's First Muslim Power
Soner Cagatpay carefully outlines the challenges facing a modern Turkey struggling to balance its Eastern and Western desires and expectations.
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Foreign Policy Association interview podcast series.