Where is Turkey Headed? Gezi Park, Taksim Square, and the Future of the Turkish Model

Prime Minister Erdogan and the AKP Party have led Turkey to the global forefront as an economic and political powerhouse in the region. For people throughout the region, Turkey's economic achievement and the relative freedoms enjoyed by its citizens have proven very attractive, enabling Turkey to generate a significant amount of influence with their neighbors in the Middle East, in the Balkans, in the Caucasus. At the same time, the ruling party has used its narrow majority to pass controversial legislation and, at times, to suppress journalistic and, recently, political freedom. The direction that Turkey takes, particularly on the question of the quality of its democracy, matters greatly to the United States and our interests in Turkey's neighborhood. Turkey offers inspiration to emerging democracies and aspiring democrats, and it is crucial to the United States that the light of this example grows brighter instead of dimming.