Elections in Turkey

Understanding Erdoğan’s popularity at home and abroad

When: Friday 15 June 2018, from 9:30 to 12:30
Where: fjum, Karl Farkas Gasse 18, 1030 Wien
Seminar language: English
Registration Deadline: 12 June 2018

Cooperation project: forum journalismus und medien wien (fjum) and  the International Press Institute, https://ipi.media/

 

Background

Early general elections are scheduled to take place in Turkey on 24 June 2018. If President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) win, as many analysts expect, these elections would cement the centralisation of power in the office of the president. Although the number of seats in the Grand National Assembly will increase from 550 to 600, the legislative powers of Parliament will be reduced.  The changes in the number of seats as well as the centralisation of power in the office of the president resulted from the referendum that took place on 16 April 2017.  In Turkey 51, 41% of the voters approved those changes, widely perceived as a step further in solidifying an already authoritarian regime, while in Austria 73, 23% of Turkish residents seconded them. Ankara’s policies have a direct impact on the Turkish diaspora.

Why is Mr. Erdoğan so popular in spite of corruption scandals, restricted passport policy, dismissal of thousands of civil servants after the coup attempt in 2016, incarceration of journalists, silencing of the media, and war incursion in Syria? What is the basis of the regime’s success?

In essence, this seminar addresses the relationship between international and domestic affairs and all speakers have firsthand experience in the above mentioned contexts.

 

Speakers

Gürkan Özturan, journalist and executive manager of the dokuz8NEWS, specialised in right wing populism.

 

Murat Yildiz, expert in criminal justice and security sector reform. Former senior officer within the Turkish police force.

 

Format

Presentations, Q&A, continuous dialogue

 

Target Groups

Journalists from the Austrian and Austria-based media, foreign and national news desks, think- tank analysts and academic representatives.

 

Number of participants

Maximum 20

 

Prerequisite

Read the provided material before the session

 

Further Questions

For additional information about the session, contact Mirjana Tomic, seminar manager, Mirjana.tomic@fjum-wien.at, or call 0676 365 26 93

Mirjana Tomić develops and manages fjum_Kontext information sessions on current international affairs. Her international career encompasses journalism, media and political analyses, public outreach and university lecturing. She holds a BA degree in Political Science from Brandeis University, US, and an MA from El Colegio de México, Mexico City, Mexico.