Source: Persuasion
by Gonul Tol
“As a scholar of Turkey, I spent years watching President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rise — and, I’ll admit, I once believed in the promise. I had reservations about his Islamist roots, but his vows to fight corruption, reduce poverty, and expand freedoms seemed like the antidote to Turkey’s democratic fragility. For a moment, it felt like real progress. But in hindsight, those so-called reforms were not designed to strengthen democracy — they were designed to dismantle it from within. I ignored the early warning signs. … Optimists often argue that Trump won’t have time to do what Erdoğan did — that it took Erdoğan two decades to turn Turkey’s flawed democracy into an autocracy. But that comparison misses the mark. Erdoğan came to power weak. … Trump, by contrast, returned to office with the Republican Party in lockstep, Congress increasingly submissive, and with powerful allies across business and right-wing media.” (05/16/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/trump-is-erdogan-on-steroids