Joint seminar with the Anglo-Turkish Society

Thursday 13 October 2016 at 6.30pm

at the Royal Anthropological Institute
 
Speaker:  Hugh Pope

THE TURKISH KALEIDOSCOPE

Few are more stunned by Turkey’s 15 July coup attempt than the Turkish people themselves. Even outside Turkey, analysts have reacted to the confusion by veering deep into ideological and even conspiracy viewpoints. And if Justice and Development Party (AKP) government leaders sound tense, that’s because they are under unprecedented pressure: added to the new imperative to neutralise a new domestic threat from the heart of its own constituency, they are also still struggling to combat the long-running insurgency of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the multiple threats posed by Islamic State spilling over the border from Syria.

As the Turkish kaleidoscope keeps turning, the country is trying its best to keep up appearances and preserve as many as possible of the real achievements of the past two decades. Nobody knows the full story behind the events of July 15, and exactly what happened may not be clear for years. For now, at least, Turkey needs all the help it can get: the crisis marks the moment where the strongly progressive years of the 2000s hit a major roadblock and the diplomatic and economic challenges that had been multiplying on many fronts suddenly came into focus.

This event is free, but tickets must be booked. To book tickets please go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hugh-pope-lecture-the-turkish-kaleidoscope-13-oct-2016-630-ats-rai-tickets-27664890432