Events

Speaker Series – Murat Somer

On May 8, 2025, Murat Somer, Professor at the Özyeğin University, will visit our Institute.

The title of his lecture:

Quo Vadis in Turkey and Implications for Democracy in the World

• Time: 8 May 2025, Thursday, 13:00
• Address: Budapest, Tóth Kálmán utca 4, 1097
• Venue: PTI Round Conference Room (Building T, Floor 2, T.2.37.)
• Language of the lecture: English

Abstract: 

Because of its nature as happening incrementally and under elected governments, democratic erosion is hard to counter for opposition actors and requires novel approaches. Turkey has suffered one of the world’s earliest and longest examples of democratic erosion in the twentieth century, which transformed the country’s regime from electoral democracy to electoral autocracy over the last two decades. While the social and political opposition actors could not stop this decay and at times unwillingly contributed to it, they have remained undefiant and strong despite growing government repression. The current crisis stems from the government’s attempt to move to a closed autocracy devoid of real opposition, similar to Putin’s Russia. The talk will discuss opposition dilemmas during democratic erosion, the actors and background of the current political battle in Turkey, how the Turkish opposition’s learning over time and novel strategies inform democracy struggles elsewhere in the world, and possible outcomes.

The lecture is part of the HUN-REN TK Institute for Political Science Speaker Series. You can find  more information about our previous events HERE.

 

Reaching the venue: