One year and a half after the attempted coup d’état, the political and social situation in Turkey continues to be extremely critical. While the state of emergency is still in force after having been extended every three months since July 21st, 2015, the groundwork is being laid in the country, preparing for the 2019 general election which is expected to bring into force the presidential regime approved by the much-debated referendum.
In our dossier we analyse the most recent political, social and cultural changes: the resignation of the most influent mayors of the biggest cities and the consequent exchanges within the AKP, whose leadership Recep Tayyip Erdoğan resumed last May (Spinella), the approval of the law allowing muftis to perform civil marriages (Maritato), the attempts set by the AKP about securing what Erdoğan referred to as ‘social and cultural power’ (Tutal), the ongoing attack against human rights activist defenders and the arrest of the businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala (Nocera). Finally, we propose an exceptional testimony from a Turkish prison, the letter of the renowned author Ahmet Altan.
Credit: Ozan Kose/AFP