Ep. 93 — Context for Turkey's election

Host Bill Roggio is joined by two of his FDD colleagues to unpack the context surrounding Turkey's imminent presidential elections. Jonathan Schanzer is the Senior Vice President for Research at FDD, where Sinan Ciddi is a non-resident senior fellow. Both are Turkey experts. (One has taken a harder hit from pro-government Turks on Twitter than the other.) From President Erdogan's thinly-veiled political opportunism — like his 180 on Syria; his regional charm offensive, particularly with Israel; and his role as a U.S. "counterterrorism partner" — and his blatant corruption — like his mismanagement of earthquake aid and his allowing Turkey to be a terrorist superhighway — to an opposition candidate's eleventh hour dropout, this is your starter pack for understanding what's about to unfold in Turkey. Want to know more? Here's what to read: U.S. Demands More Sanctions Enforcement From Turkey U.S. and Turkey Take Joint Action to Disrupt ISIS Financing No US-Turkey Rapprochement Is Possible Under Erdogan Turkey Wants a Post-election Reset with Washington Will Erdogan Embrace The West? U.S. Sanctions Turkish Entities for Aiding Russian War Effort Biden Must Tell Erdogan To Stop Targeting US Partners Turkey Supports Hamas, Which Means an Alliance With Israel Isn’t Going To Happen Turkey’s Erdogan must take concrete action on Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood Hamas Operatives in Turkey Recruit Palestinians for Terror Attacks Turkey’s Earthquake: The Buck Stops with Erdogan Turkey’s Crimes Against Humanity Under ICC Spotlight Erdogan faces growing backlash over earthquake mismanagement Erdogan Threatens to Discard Election Results In Support of a Democratic Turkey Turkey After Erdogan