By Staying Set in His Ways, Turkey’s Erdogan Risks Seeing Himself Out

Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan is playing 2020s politics with a 2000s playbook -- and though it’s not clear Turkish voters are ready to truly turn the page on nearly 20 years of his Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s rule in upcoming elections, what is clear is that Erdogan’s usual bag of tricks – from economic and religious populism at home to nationalist saber-rattling abroad – are no longer providing the electoral dividends they used to. Yet Erdogan seems committed to run the AKP campaign as if his electorate hasn’t changed since the last election in 2018 despite growing evidence that Turks, especially younger ones, want a new political future for their country. ...