Democracy Dies in Darkness

Erdogan becomes an era-defining electoral autocrat

Analysis by
Columnist
May 30, 2023 at 12:00 a.m. EDT
7 min

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He doesn’t have Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear weapons. He doesn’t have Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s geopolitical clout at the helm of the world’s most populous country. He doesn’t have Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s European Union bully pulpit and right-wing allies in the United States. And he doesn’t have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long track record of proving that reports of his political demise are greatly exaggerated — at least, not yet.