To stem the spread of COVID-19, Turkey is releasing 90,000 prison inmates. Not on the list for release: tens of thousands of academics, journalists and others the regime sees as political threats.
A few years ago, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey’s Gulenists were running the show. Now both religious movements face political repression. How did they fall so far, so fast?
Richard Carney, China Europe International Business School
Almost one-third of countries around the world are authoritarian regimes with the trappings of democracy. Their bad behavior poses a threat to real democracies, as the United States recently learned.
It may sound farfetched that a scholar living in Pennsylvania planned the overthrow of the Turkish government. But Turkey is demanding the U.S. extradite the Hizmet leader.
Quick measures by the central bank prevented a financial crisis, but investors are worried. Longer-term economic effects will depend on how long Erdogan’s purge goes on.
Alp Ozerdem reports from Turkey on a violent, thwarted attempt to take over the country by force. It was a bizarre night of botched announcements and presidential Facetime calls.