Turkey History since 2000

The Turkish government was asked to resolve its territorial disputes with Greece in the Aegean Sea, and to adapt the country to European political standards, with particular reference to the issue of human rights. Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit responded favorably and started the process that would lead to the abolition of the death penalty in 2002. Despite the announced abandonment of the armed struggle by the PKK, in February 2000, in April of the following year they had new armed clashes between the regular army and Kurdish guerrillas. However, even the long-awaited abolition of the death penalty did not guarantee Turkey’s entry into the EU, at least in the short term. The country’s progress was not considered sufficient by the European Commission and at the Copenhagen summit in December 2002, it was decided to postpone the start of EU accession negotiations until 2004. On the home front, Reçep Tayyip Erdogan, which won an absolute majority of seats in Parliament. Unable to personally assume the leadership of the government (due to a conviction that prevented him from being elected deputy), Erdogan entrusted the role of prime minister to his deputy, the economist Abdullah Gul, but in 2003, thanks to an amendment that he he had allowed to be elected deputy in the first available college, was given the task of forming the new government. The conflict that broke out in March 2003 between the Anglo-American coalition and Iraq saw Turkey in a strategic position for the advance of the Western coalition into enemy territory, but at the same time opened serious contradictions within the country. The Turkish Parliament expressed itself in 2003 against the use of the military bases present on its territory by the Anglo-American army engaged in Iraq. Turkey therefore limited itself to allowing the use of its airspace, but this line of neutrality did not protect the country from the attacks of Islamic fundamentalism: in November of the same year, in fact, a series of attacks hit two mosques and the British consulate. in Istanbul, while in June 2004 the clashes between the army and Kurdish separatists resumed.

Despite these lacerations and, in spite of the attacks by separatists and Islamic terrorists that have plagued the country over the last two years, in 2006 the negotiations for the country’s accession to the European Union were formally launched, which then continued between high and low due to the Turkish unwillingness to recognize Cyprus, as well as for the repeated cases of violation of human rights ascertained by European observers. Even the visit of Benedict XVI (November), preceded by a conference by the pontiff which was interpreted in religious circles as a reference to the violent nature of Islam, was an occasion for protests and disputes. In 2007 there was a serious clash between the majority party, which had nominated Abdullah Gul for the presidency of the republic, and the Social Democratic party, against the extension of the influence of the Islamic party on the institutions. After a contested vote in Parliament, canceled by the Constitutional Court, the premier called early legislative elections for July of the same year, won by the AKP with 46.4%, while the Social Democrats got 20.8%; gray wolves, doubled the votes, reaching 14.2% and also the independents entered Parliament, mostly Kurds. According to a2zgov, Erdoğan was subsequently given the task of forming the new government. In August Abdullah Gul, a candidate of the AKP, was elected to the presidency of the Republic. In October 2009, Turkey and Armenia signed a normalization agreement in Zurich to put an end to hostilities between the two countries. In February 2010, dozens of military and former high-ranking soldiers were arrested on charges of high treason, for organizing plots to overthrow Erdoğan’s Islamist government. In September an important referendum was voted for the amendment of the Constitutional Charter promulgated after the military coup of 1980. In June 2011, the legislative elections won by the AKP with nearly 50% of the vote.

In May 2013, following a demonstration to save a park in the center of İstanbul from a building project, the protests spread to other cities. The first direct presidential elections took place in 2014 and were won by Prime Minister Erdoğan, while attempts to reform the Constitution in the presidential sense were wrecked, preventing Erdoğan himself from obtaining a further post as prime minister after the 2015 elections due to the limit of three terms. In October 2015, a terrorist attack in Ankara caused a hundred deaths, just before the elections that saw the AKP regain an absolute majority with 316 seats. The will of President Erdoğan to present the country as a reference point for the Sunni world, also underlined by the reopening of the Hagia Sophia mosque for worship (2020), it is supported by an active presence on the nearby crisis scenarios. In October 2019, Turkey attacked Kurdish forces in Syria to liberate a swathe of territory near the border and prevent the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish entity. The Turkish army has also directly clashed with that of the Asad regime, supported by Russia and Iran, in the province of Idlib (February and March 2020). In January, following parliamentary approval, troops were also sent to Libya in support of the Tripoli government’s counter-offensive. In October 2019, Turkey attacked Kurdish forces in Syria to liberate a swathe of territory near the border and prevent the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish entity. The Turkish army has also directly clashed with that of the Asad regime, supported by Russia and Iran, in the province of Idlib (February and March 2020). In January, following parliamentary approval, troops were also sent to Libya in support of the Tripoli government’s counter-offensive. In October 2019, Turkey attacked Kurdish forces in Syria to liberate a swathe of territory near the border and prevent the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish entity. The Turkish army has also directly clashed with that of the Asad regime, supported by Russia and Iran, in the province of Idlib (February and March 2020). In January, following parliamentary approval, troops were also sent to Libya in support of the Tripoli government’s counter-offensive.