Two women stand in front of portraits of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, left, in the Eminonu district of Istanbul, May 11, 2018. (Credit: Ozan Kose/AFP)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has mastered the reinterpretation of history to suit his political vision. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk — revered as the “Father of the Turks” — sought to modernize the country through sweeping secular reforms, reshaping Turkish society along Western principles. Erdogan, however, often looks to the past. In October 2023, he marked the centenary of the Republic of Turkey with a grand celebration, designed to carry powerful symbolic weight. Read more Syria’s SNA, a rebel faction taking orders from Turkey Looking ahead, Erdogan envisions a “new” or “great” Turkey — one that seeks to revive the glory of the sultans and the Ottoman Empire, which collapsed after the First World War. And, recent developments in Syria have provided him with an opportunity to rekindle these ambitions.After initially being sidelined...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has mastered the reinterpretation of history to suit his political vision. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk — revered as the “Father of the Turks” — sought to modernize the country through sweeping secular reforms, reshaping Turkish society along Western principles. Erdogan, however, often looks to the past. In October 2023, he marked the centenary of the Republic of Turkey with a grand celebration, designed to carry powerful symbolic weight. Read more Syria’s SNA, a rebel faction taking orders from Turkey Looking ahead, Erdogan envisions a “new” or “great” Turkey — one that seeks to revive the glory of the sultans and the Ottoman Empire, which collapsed after the First World War. And, recent developments in Syria have provided him with an opportunity to rekindle these ambitions.After...