Turkey is an important U.S. ally in the Middle East, especially in the fight against the so-called Islamic State or ISIS.
But the West is watching the actions of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who recently jailed a 16-year-old student who called the president a thief. That student was eventually released, but he still faces a trial and a possible four-year prison sentence.
Here & Now’s Lisa Mullins discusses what this case says about Erdogan’s leadership and vision for Turkey with Elmira Bayrasli, the co-founder of Foreign Policy Interrupted.
Guest
- Elmira Bayrasli is a fellow at the World Policy Institute and the co-founder of Foreign Policy Interrupted. She tweets @EndeavoringE.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.