Volume 13 - Number 4 June – July 2017 £4 TTHISHIS ISSUEISSUE: TTURKEYURKEY ● A ppresidentresident inin controlcontrol ofof thethe executive,executive, legislaturelegislature aandnd jjudiciaryudiciary ● EErdoğan’srdoğan’s victoryvictory andand thethe unravellingunravelling ofof politicalpolitical IslamIslam inin TuTurkeyrkey ● TTurkey’surkey’s iinstitutionalnstitutional fragilityfragility ● TThehe ffutureuture ooff TTurkey’surkey’s KKurds?urds? ● TTurkey’surkey’s jjournalistsournalists inin a battlebattle forfor ssurvivalurvival ● TThehe TTurkishurkish eeconomyconomy sstrugglingtruggling withwith politicalpolitical volatilityvolatility ● TTurkey’surkey’s newnew dynamicsdynamics inin ggloballobal energyenergy andand geopoliticsgeopolitics ● IIstanbulstanbul FFilmilm FFestivalestival ● PPLUSLUS RReviewseviews andand eventsevents inin LondonLondon Volume 13 - Number 4 June–July 2017 £4 TTHISHIS IISSUESSUE: TTURKEYURKEY ● A ppresidentresident iinn ccontrolontrol ooff tthehe eexecutive,xecutive, llegislatureegislature aandnd jjudiciaryudiciary ● EErdoğan’srdoğan’s vvictoryictory andand tthehe unravellingunravelling ooff ppoliticalolitical IIslamslam inin TTuurrkeykey ● TTurkey’surkey’s iinstitutionalnstitutional ffragilityragility ● TThehe ffutureuture ooff TTurkey’surkey’s KKurds?urds? ● TTurkey’surkey’s jjournalistsournalists inin a bbattleattle forfor ssurvivalurvival ● TThehe TTurkishurkish eeconomyconomy sstrugglingtruggling wwithith ppoliticalolitical vvolatilityolatility ● TTurkey’surkey’s nnewew ddynamicsynamics iinn ggloballobal eenergynergy andand ggeopoliticseopolitics ● IIstanbulstanbul FFilmilm FestivalFestival ● PPLUSLUS RReviewseviews aandnd eventsevents iinn LLondonondon İrfan Önürmen, Pose (detail), 2016. Textile materials, acrylic About the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) and layers of tulle on stretcher bar, 225 X 160cm. Courtesy of C24 Gallery and the artist Th e London Middle East Institute (LMEI) draws upon the resources of London and SOAS to provide teaching, training, research, publication, consultancy, outreach and other services related to the Middle East. It serves as a neutral forum for Middle East studies broadly defi ned and helps to create links between Volume 13 – Number 4 individuals and institutions with academic, commercial, diplomatic, media or other specialisations. June – July 2017 With its own professional staff of Middle East experts, the LMEI is further strengthened by its academic membership – the largest concentration of Middle East expertise in any institution in Europe. Th e LMEI also has access to the SOAS Library, which houses over 150,000 volumes dealing with all aspects of the Middle Editorial Board East. 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Contents LMEI Board of Trustees 4 17 Baroness Valerie Amos (Chair) EDITORIAL Turkey’s new dynamics in Director, SOAS global energy and geopolitics Professor Richard Black, SOAS 5 Mehmet Öğütçü Dr John Curtis Iran Heritage Foundation INSIGHT Dr Nelida Fuccaro, SOAS A president in control of the 19 Dr Dina Matar, SOAS executive, legislature and Istanbul Film Festival: a life- Dr Hanan Morsy judiciary long companion for fi lmmakers European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Gamon McLellan in Turkey Professor Scott Redford, SOAS Hülya Uçansu Dr Barbara Zollner Birkbeck College 7 TURKEY 21 Erdoğan’s victory and the REVIEWS LMEI Advisory Council unravelling of political Islam in RESTAURANT Lady Barbara Judge (Chair) Turkey Turkish eating in London Professor Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem Karabekir Akkoyunlu Sami Zubaida H E Khalid Al-Duwaisan GVCO Ambassador, Embassy of the State of Kuwait Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani 9 23 Arab International Women’s Forum Turkey’s institutional fragility BOOKS Dr Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa President, University College of Bahrain Simon A. Waldman and Emre Th e Gülen Movement in Professor Tony Allan King’s College and SOAS Caliskan Turkey: Th e Politics of Islam Dr Alanoud Alsharekh and Modernity Senior Fellow for Regional Politics, IISS 11 Gamon McLellan Mr Farad Azima NetScientifi c Plc Yellow tulips and green bulbs: Dr Noel Brehony the future of Turkey’s Kurds? 24 MENAS Associates Ltd. Professor Magdy Ishak Hanna Amberin Zaman Istanbul: A Tale of Th ree Cities British Egyptian Society Peter Clark HE Mr Mazen Kemal Homoud Ambassador, Embassy of the Hashemite 13 Kingdom of Jordan Mr Paul Smith Turkey’s journalists in a battle 25 Chairman, Eversheds International for survival BOOKS IN BRIEF Founding Patron and Firdevs Robinson Donor of the LMEI 27 Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber MBI Al Jaber Foundation 15 EVENTS IN LONDON Th e Turkish economy struggling with political volatility Mina Toksöz June – July 2017 The Middle East in London 3 EEDITORIALDITORIAL DDearear RReadereader Work derived from ‘Broken glass’ on Wikimedia Commons (originally posted to Flickr as ‘smash’) by Jef Poskanzer under the following license: CC BY 2.0 Nevsâl Hughes, MEL Editorial Board ow, more than ever, it is diffi cult Istanbul airports may be busier, but few country to the core. Next, Amberin Zaman to predict the direction in which Western tourists are seen in the city’s writes about Turkey’s treatment of Kurds NTurkey is heading. Th e recent Grand Bazaar where 600 of the 2,000 shops since Erdoğan came to power; the latest referendum on presidential powers have been forced to close since last year. stage of fi ghting erupted aft er the two- held on 16 April was a game changer. Th e Turkish economic miracle is no more, and-a-half-year ceasefi re collapsed in the Th e referendum sought approval for 18 yet the country somehow maintains its summer of 2015. With over 160 journalists proposed amendments to the Turkish momentum. Relations between Turkey remaining in custody, some for more than constitution. Yet many people had no and the EU, though icy, are not yet frozen. six months, Firdevs Robinson details how idea what these amendments were. Foreign relations and policy, economics the crackdown on the media in Turkey has Nevertheless, the ‘yes’ campaign won with and a deteriorating image abroad are just reached alarming proportions. 51.4 per cent of the vote; ‘no’ received 48.6 some of the topics touched upon here. Mina Toksöz analyses the Turkish per cent. In Insight, Gamon McLellan assesses economy’s resilience to volatility and Amidst widespread complaints of blatant the referendum, describing how the explains why Turkey’s economic policy-mix electoral fraud, President Erdoğan is now campaigns were aff ected by the continuing is untenable in the long term. Turkey’s new set to control the executive, the legislature state of emergency – which Erdoğan used dynamics in global energy and geopolitics and the judiciary without checks and to his advantage; currently there is no is the subject of an article by Mehmet balances, such as those seen in the USA indication that he will soft en his approach Öğütçü. Hülya Uçansu writes about