The New Sultan

The aborted coup in Turkey has fired up interest in a country which will play a critical geopolitical role in the wars of the Middle East. The spotlight will inevitably be on Erdogan – the powerful leader of the country - whose increasingly bizarre and authoritarian regime has increased tensions enormously both within and outside the country. His crackdown has been brutal and consistent – thousands of journalists arrested, academics officially banned from leaving the country, university deans fired and three quarters of highest ranking army officers arrested.In some senses, this coup has given Erdogan the license to make good on his repeated promise to bring order and stability under a ‘strongman’. Here, leading Turkish expert Soner Cagaptay will look at where Erdogan comes from in Turkish history, what he believes in, how he has cemented his rule will assess the threats he faces – from the liberal youth to the Gulen movement, the army plotters and the Kurdish question.