The key constants and continuities since the AKP victory in 2002 that have led to the most significant developments, dynamics, and directions for Turkey’s immediate and longer-term future.

Turkey’s domestic and international environments are in the midst of changes. The infographic briefly provides a picture of today’s Turkey.

A chronology of key events in almost the century-long history of modern Turkey provides pointers for Turkey’s turbulent journey.

Turkey, of course, is not alone in this world. Quite the opposite. Its geographic position and size give it a centrality that instills in its domestic and international actions an importance and an impact that is both an advantage (for bargaining) and a curse (for often unwanted attention). Regional and global changes have created a dangerous milieu for this strategic 'middle power'.

In addition to the Turkish economy’s dynamics and its structural realities, the internal and external factors determining Turkey’s role in energy geopolitics and its energy strategy in light of the changing dynamics of global energy supply and distribution attract increasing attention in international politics.

A synthetic analysis of Turkey’s key dynamics in its domestic and external development may serve as a guide to predict what might be expected in the near future for Turkey, its people, and its interactions with the world.

Hundreds of Dutch residents of Turkish origin took to the streets of Rotterdam in July 2016 to celebrate the failure of a coup attempt in Turkey. Waving Turkish flags, they walked from Wilhelmina Square towards the Erasmus Bridge.

Since the failed military coup of July 15, 2016, Turkey has repeatedly attracted international political and media attention. As a complex culture—at once secular and Muslim, Western and Eastern, democratic and authoritarian—Turkey remains an enigma to many outsiders.

The economy of the countries is increasingly dependent on new markets. Trade with developing countries is growing, and governments, MSEs but also SMEs are seeing rapid growth outside their traditional demotic and regional markets.