Has Erdoğan Tightened His Grip on Power?

{
  "authors": [
    "Judy Dempsey"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Carnegie Europe"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "Turkey’s Transformation"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Europe",
  "programAffiliation": "EP",
  "programs": [
    "Europe"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Middle East",
    "Europe",
    "Türkiye",
    "Iran"
  ],
  "topics": []
}

In The Media

Carnegie Europe

Has Erdoğan Tightened His Grip on Power?

Pollsters did not predict the scale of the AKP’s victory in Turkey’s November parliamentary election. But was the contest’s real winner the country’s president?

By Judy Dempsey

Published on Nov 5, 2015

Source: Deutsche Welle

A clear victory for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the November parliamentary election was not what the pollsters had predicted. In a climate of insecurity, have Turkish voters indirectly given more power to the president?

Speaking to Deutsche Welle’s Quadriga, Judy Dempsey was asked to comment on the outcome of the Turkish election and the future of the country. She was joined by Alan Posener, political author at Die Welt, and Dilek Kurban, research fellow at the Hertie School of Governance.

This broadcast was originally aired on Deutsche Welle’s Quadriga.

About the Author

Judy Dempsey

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe

Dempsey is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe

Recent Work

Commentary
Europe Needs to Hear What America is Saying
- Judy Dempsey
Commentary
Babiš’s Victory in Czechia Is Not a Turning Point for European Populists
- Judy Dempsey

Middle East Europe Türkiye Iran

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Commentary
Carnegie Politika
Will Hungary’s New Leader Really Change EU Policy on Russia and Ukraine?
Orbán created an image for himself as virtually the only opponent of aid to Ukraine in the entire EU. But in reality, he was simply willing to use his veto to absorb all the backlash, allowing other opponents to remain in the shadows.
Maksim Samorukov
Commentary
Diwan
Realism and the Lebanon-Israel Talks
Beirut’s desire to break free from Iranian hegemony may push it into a situation where it has to accept Israel’s hegemony.
Michael Young
Commentary
Strategic Europe
How to Join the EU in Three Easy Steps
Montenegro and Albania are frontrunners for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, but they can’t just sit back and wait. To meet their 2030 accession ambitions, they must make a strong positive case.
Dimitar Bechev, Iliriana Gjoni
Commentary
Emissary
The Myriad Problems With the Iran Ceasefire
Four Middle East experts analyze the region’s reactions and next steps.
+1
Amr Hamzawy, Andrew Leber, Eric Lob, …
Collection
The Iran War’s Global Reach
As the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran continues, Carnegie scholars contribute cutting-edge analysis on the events of the war and their wide-reaching implications. From the impact on Iran and its immediate neighbors to the responses from Gulf states to fuel and fertilizer shortages caused by the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, the war is reshaping Middle East alliances and creating shockwaves around the world. Carnegie experts analyze it all.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Commentary

Carnegie Politika

Will Hungary’s New Leader Really Change EU Policy on Russia and Ukraine?

Orbán created an image for himself as virtually the only opponent of aid to Ukraine in the entire EU. But in reality, he was simply willing to use his veto to absorb all the backlash, allowing other opponents to remain in the shadows.

Maksim Samorukov

Commentary

Diwan

Realism and the Lebanon-Israel Talks

Beirut’s desire to break free from Iranian hegemony may push it into a situation where it has to accept Israel’s hegemony.

Michael Young

Commentary

Strategic Europe

How to Join the EU in Three Easy Steps

Montenegro and Albania are frontrunners for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, but they can’t just sit back and wait. To meet their 2030 accession ambitions, they must make a strong positive case.

Dimitar Bechev, Iliriana Gjoni

Man standing next to a pile of burned cars

Commentary

Emissary

The Myriad Problems With the Iran Ceasefire

Four Middle East experts analyze the region’s reactions and next steps.

- +1
Amr Hamzawy, Andrew Leber, Eric Lob, …

A machine gun of a Houthi soldier mounted on a police vehicle next to a billboard depicting the U.S. president Donald Trump and Mohammed Bin Salman, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, during a protest staged to show support to Iran against the U.S.-Israel war on March 27, 2026 in Sana'a, Yemen.

Collection

The Iran War’s Global Reach

As the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran continues, Carnegie scholars contribute cutting-edge analysis on the events of the war and their wide-reaching implications. From the impact on Iran and its immediate neighbors to the responses from Gulf states to fuel and fertilizer shortages caused by the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, the war is reshaping Middle East alliances and creating shockwaves around the world. Carnegie experts analyze it all.