TURKISH STUDIES

Robert Ellis
(Turkey analyst and commentator and an international advisor at the Research Institute for European and American Studies in Athens)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 19 July 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

The intention of Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan must be apparent. The process that began on March 19 with the detention and later arrest of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoǧlu has developed into a full-scale war with the intent of dismantling Turkey’s secular opposition, the CHP (Republican People’s Party), founded by Atatürk.
Imamoǧlu was prevented from running in the 2023 presidential elections because he remarked that those who cancelled the 2019 mayoral elections in Istanbul were fools. However, in a re-run Imamoǧlu trounced the AKP opposition and again in the 2024 mayoral elections.... Read more

Robert Ellis
(An analyst and commentator on Turkish affairs. He is also an International Advisor at the Research Institute for European and Studies in Athens)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr)
Publication date: 19 May 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

Friday’s collapse of the projected peace talks between the two leaders, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, does not conceal the fact there was no problem in agreeing on Istanbul as the venue. This underlines the role that Erdoǧan’s Turkey would like to play as the mediator between East and West.
A recent analysis by Fatih Yurtsever (a pseudonym) in Turkish Minute explores the paradox between Erdoǧan’s role as the mediator abroad and the strongman at home, and concludes: “Whether Erdoğan’s growing international stature can be reconciled with Turkey’s democratic decline — or whether it simply fortifies his grip on power — remains the defining paradox of his leadership”.... Read more

Robert Ellis
(Turkey analyst and commentator, and also an international advisor at the Research Institute for European and American Studies in Athens)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 7 April 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

If the celebrated historian, Barbara Tuchman, author of The Guns of August, lived today, she would undoubtedly update The March of Folly, which was published in 1984. This deals with the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests, from Troy to Vietnam, and an update would undoubtedly include events from the last decade. ... Read more

Robert Ellis
(An analyst and commentator on Turkish affairs. He is also an International Advisor at the Research Institute for European and Studies in Athens)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 24 March 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

In the early hours of Wednesday morning 106 suspects, including the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoǧlu, were detained in two investigations launched by the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office. Imamoǧlu was accused of corruption and support for terrorism. The reaction was not long in coming.... Read more

Robert Ellis
(Turkey analyst and commentator, and an international advisor
at the Research Institute for European and American Studies in Athens)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 15 March 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

The Financial Times has published a rare interview with Hakan Fidan, the former head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), who was appointed foreign minister after Turkey’s last elections in May 2023. President Erdogan’s chief advisor, Islamic ideologue Ibrahim Kalin, replaced him as head of MIT. Consequently, to all intents and purposes, Turkey is ruled by a triumvirate. ... Read more

Robert Ellis
(Turkey analyst and commentator, and also an international advisor at the Research Institute for European and American Studies in Athens)

Copyright: @ 2025 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 9 March 2025

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies

When Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan can claim that only Turkey can save the EU from the deadlock it has fallen into, he is a prey to wishful thinking, or at best, whistling in the dark.
Turkey is itself a divided nation, torn between two visions for its future. The founder of modern Turkey, the victorious general, Mustafa Kemal, later named Atatürk (‘the father of the Turks’), set his republic on the path towards the West.
Mustafa Kemal’s republic, created in 1923, abolished the caliphate and with the Hat Law and the Independence Tribunals secularism was strictly enforced. The religious schools (‘madrasas’) were closed, the religious brotherhoods (‘tarikats’) were banned and Islamic law (‘sharia’) was replaced with legislation based on that in Switzerland, Italy and Germany. Equality between men and women was also established. ... Read more