Turkey in 2025: structural continuities beneath apparent transformation

This panel examines developments in Türkiye in the past year through broader historical, economic, and institutional patterns to determine the extent of change and its implications going forward.

The year 2025 has marked a potentially significant period in Turkish politics. Türkiye's recalibrated bilateral relations with the United States and its evolving role amid shifting Middle Eastern dynamics, particularly following developments in Syria and Gaza, signal broader changes in Ankara’s regional and global posture. The establishment of the National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission represents the most institutionalised engagement with the Kurdish question since the collapse of peace talks in 2015. The March arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, which triggered opposition rallies across major cities, occurred alongside efforts to stabilise the economy in a period of ongoing challenges, including persistent inflation.

This panel examines these critical developments by taking into consideration broader political and economic forces beneath the headlines. To what extent do 2025’s events represent genuine ruptures versus the continuation of deeper historical and structural patterns? Taking a longer view of Turkish political culture, society, economy, and institutions, what are the most resilient aspects of Turkish politics, and what do these suggest for the future? The discussion will tease out historical continuities amidst seeming change by focusing on political party structures, patterns of political mobilisation, economic institutions, and relations with the West.

Meet our speakers and chair

Pelin Ayan Musil (@pelinamus) is associate professor of political science at CEVRO University and Anglo-American University in Prague. Her research interests include democratisation and regime change, political parties and their systems, and social movements with a focus on contemporary Türkiye and the Middle East. She is the author of The Transformation of Kurdish and Islamist Parties in Turkey: Consequences for Regime Change (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) and Authoritarian Party Structures and Democratic Political Setting in Turkey (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

Esra Çuhadar (@ceragesra) is associate professor at Bilkent University, Ankara and head of research at Ottawa Dialogue. She specialises in dialogue facilitation, mediation and inclusion in conflict contexts. In 2023, she was senior adviser with the UN’s Standby Team, after roles at the US Institute of Peace (2020–2023) and as regional mediator for the World Bank (2011–2020). Recently, she co-authored ‘Inclusive Commissions and Durable Peace’ in International Political Science Review and Monitoring Dialogue in Conflict-Affected Contexts: A Guide for Practitioners (US Institute of Peace, 2025).

Işık Özel (@Isik__Ozel) is associate professor of Political Science at the Department of Social Sciences at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). She has widely published on Turkish political economy in comparative perspective, including her recent article ‘Erosion of economic institutions in the age of democratic backsliding: an analysis of the Turkish case,’ published in Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. Özel is also the author of State-Business Alliances and Economic Development: Turkey, Mexico and North Africa (Routledge, 2015).

Buğra Süsler (@BugraSusler) is associate professor in International Relations at the University College London (UCL) and the head of Turkey and the World programme at LSE IDEAS. Dr Süsler’s research expertise includes foreign policy analysis and emerging powers. He is the author of Turkey, the EU, and the Middle East: Foreign Policy Cooperation and the Arab Uprisings (Routledge, 2020) and, more recently, Turkey and BRICS: Strategic Autonomy and A Search for New Partnerships in a Post-Western World published in the South African Journal of International Affairs.

Yaprak Gürsoy (@ygursoy) is Professor of European Politics and Chair in Contemporary Turkish Studies in the European Institute at LSE.

More about this event

Contemporary Turkish Studies focuses on the politics and economy of Türkiye and its relations with the rest of Europe. The programme aims to promote a deeper understanding of contemporary Türkiye through interdisciplinary and critical research, teaching and related public activities.

Hashtag for this event: #LSETürkiye

*Photo credit: iStock - yusuf cap - 2206421853

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