After two rounds of voting in Turkey, President Erdogan is back as the president.
Going into the first round of voting there were high hopes that the opposition had a real chance of dislodging the Turkish strongman; however these hopes failed to materialise at the ballot boxes.
Back in office, Erdogan will have a long list of urgent matters that will need his attention, including a failing economy, foreign policy, growing anger over refugees, and domestic issues.
This week on The New Arab Voice, we examine why they opposition failed to live up to the hopes that were pinned on them, how Erdogan was able to use the state to secure victory, what the main issues of the election were, and what we can expect to see from Erdogan over the next five years.
Joining us to talk Turkey and elections, we’re joined by Howard Eissenstat. Howard is an associate professor at St. Lawrence University and a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute.
Also speaking this week is Soner Cagaptay, a senior fellow and the director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, and author of The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey.
This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.