A few thoughts:
Turkey was not so long ago regarded hopefully by European organizations such as NATO and the EU, thought to be a model for the melding of secular government and a basically Islamic society nonetheless tolerant of minority demographics.
Even Erdogan started out showing promise along these lines, but now is showing himself to be yet another autocrat preoccupied with regional predominance, thus given to shrewd moves that don't easily fit a discernible pattern.
There was the attempted coup in July, leading to the jailing of hundreds of journalists, opposition political figures, academics, etc. by the Erdogan regime.
2016 has been quite a year for attacks as well:
- 29 killed in February in Ankara
- 37 killed in March in Ankara
- 45 killed in June in Istanbul
- 54 killed in Gaziantep in August
Tensions rose between Turkey and Russia after Turkey downed a Russian warplane in November 2015, but seem to have eased, given the gracious diplomacy on both sides after Russia's ambassador to Turkey was assassinated at a reception at an art gallery last month. Turkey has also been a participant, along with Russia and Iran (Turkey's clear rival in the predominant-regional-power stakes) in the recent negotiations for a ceasefire in the tangled Syrian civil war (talks at which Most-Equal-Comrade-ruled post-America was notably absent).
With a considerably greater degree of hellish proceedings continuing apace in other countries in that part of the world, and with tourism still bringing in visitors to check out the food and architecture, it's still possible to look at Turkey as a reasonably stable, somewhat Westernized nation on the surface anyway. A closer examination reveals something less amenable to easy classification.
In short, it's a nation-state that bears watching in 2017.
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