Making sense of politics in Turkey requires more than an understanding of one man or one party. Turkey is country where multiple parties, ideologies, and politicians compete for the allegiance of voters. Feminists, Turkish nationalists, religious minorities, Maoists, Kurdish nationalists, the real-estate lobby, Islamists, environmentalists, and secularists are just some of the groups that vie for influence—and even these groups are fractured. By looking closely at recent political conflicts and illustrating their connections to a longer history of social struggles, this book presents an account that remains readable without sacrificing the level of detail that is essential for fully appreciating those conflicts. Politics in Turkeylooks at each of the major political parties in Turkey and tells the stories of the personalities and conflicts that shaped them. Rather than focusing solely on party leaders, the book considers the lives of supporting figures, power brokers, and politicians who bridge divides within their parties.
