Stuck between the “Rest” and the “West”: Turkey at the Crossroads

German Marshall Fund of the United States, June 14, 2012, 3 p.

by Joshua W. Walker *

Will Turkey, a historic member of the West that has recently been included in the “Rest,” still make its European anchor a priority over regional issues. Turkey’s strategic location is a fundamental reason for why the country is seen as a part of “the Rest” as well as the “West.” Yet the paradoxes in this Muslim-majority capitalist secular democracy are precisely why Turkey is critical for understanding the concept of a “new” West that can go beyond its geographic and historical borders.

* Joshua W. Walker is a Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

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