La Turchia è destinata a rivestire un ruolo geopolitico decisivo nella regione mediorientale. Dopo il fallito golpe del luglio 2016, il leader turco Recep Tayyip Erdogan è tornato protagonista della scena politica esercitando un governo sempre più autoritario che ha contribuito a inasprire le tensioni, sia sul fronte interno sia sul fronte internazionale. L'opposizione accusa l'AKP (Partito per la Giustizia e lo Sviluppo) di governare il Paese con pugno di ferro, mentre il leader turco promette di ripristinare ordine e stabilità presentandosi come l'uomo forte al comando. L'autorevole studioso turco Soner Cagaptay inquadra l'ascesa politica di Erdogan in una panoramica della storia della Turchia moderna, illustrando come il leader turco abbia consolidato il suo potere e quale sia la sua visione del Paese. Un libro che racconta come Erdogan ha plasmato una Turchia sempre più islamica e s'interroga sulla stabilità della sua leadership presentando le varie anime del fronte del dissenso, tra cui i giovani liberali, il movimento gùlenista, le forze armate e la comunità curda. Prefazione di Daniele Santoro.

Turkey, which has always held an important position in global affairs, has become even more prominent on the international stage as an economic power and a harbinger of political Islam.

During more than ten years in power—an unprecedented tenure—Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) have expanded Turkey’s trade, diplomatic ties, and cultural exports to transform the country from an economically disadvantaged secular state into the first large Muslim nation with a middle-class majority. Erdogan has asserted Turkish influence in high-stakes, high-profile foreign issues from Gaza to Egypt to Syria, often breaking ranks with his NATO allies. Today, from the cafés of the Arab world to the boardrooms of the G-20, Turkey suddenly matters.

The Rise of Turkey: The Twenty-First Century’s First Muslim Power is a guide to the country’s changes, both in its inspiring national potential and in the grave challenges it poses to regional affairs. Structured as a travelogue, each chapter opens on a different Turkish city and captures a new theme of Turkey’s transformation. From the Kurdish issue to foreign policy, Soner Cagaptay argues that Turkey needs to successfully balance its Muslim identity with its Western orientation in order to solidify its position as a regional and global power.

It is commonly believed that during the interwar period, Kemalist secularism successfully eliminated religion from the public sphere in Turkey, leaving Turkish national identity devoid of religious content. However, through its examination of the impact of the Ottoman millet system on Turkish and Balkan nationalisms, this book presents a different view point. Cagaptay demonstrates that the legacy of the Ottomon millet system which divided the Ottoman population into religious compartments called millets, shaped Turkey’s understanding of nationalism in the interwar period. Providing a compelling examination of why and how religion shapes national identity in Turkey and the Balkans the book covers topics including:

* Turkish nationalism
* the Ottoman legacy
* Kemalist citizenship policies and immigration
* Kurds, Muslims and Jews and the ethno-religious limits of Turkishness.

Incorporating documents from untapped Turkish archives, this book is essential reading for scholars and students with research interests in Turkey, Turkish nationalism and Middle East history.