Named "best book on Turkey" by CNN's Fareed Zakaria

Washington Institute Turkey expert Soner Cagaptay explains the lessons of the last decade of transformative growth and change in Turkey and charts a course for the country to continue its rise. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has led Turkey through a decade of economic and social transformation, a process that Beyer Family Fellow Soner Cagaptay details in his latest book, The Rise of Turkey: The Twenty-First Century's First Muslim Power. But the next phase of Turkey's rise depends on the government's ability to apply the lessons of the past to the grave challenges it now faces, especially from internal dissent and the crisis in Syria. Read more about The Rise of Turkey, available now from Potomac Books and Amazon: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/riseofturkey Find the latest Institute analysis on Turkey: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/topic/turkey#categories=63 Theme music by Dexter Britain.

On July 15, 2016, elements of the Turkish military staged a coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The putsch failed, but that day stands out as a clear “before” and “after” moment for Turkish democracy. For the Crossroads Turkey, Samuel George interviewed Turkey expert Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy for a better understanding of the coup’s ramifications.

On January 27, 2014, Dr. Soner Cagaptay presented insights from his book, The Rise of Turkey, and discussed Turkey's future during a special event at the Ralph J. Bunche Library of the U.S. Department of State. More about The Rise of Turkey, available from Amazon and Potomac Books: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/RiseofTurkey

"Islamist" and "Islamic" may sound similar but the difference between them is huge -- and carries profound policy implications. Beyer Family Fellow Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Institute's Turkish Research Program, explains the meaning and significance of these important terms. Explore Dr. Cagaptay's writing on this subject: Muslims vs Islamists: Islamism is not a form of the Muslim faith or an expression of Muslim piety; it is, rather, a political ideology that strives to derive legitimacy from Islam. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/.../muslims-vs.-islamists Please, Call Us Islamic: Islamophobia is rising in the West because so many of us confuse Islam with Islamism. This confusion also inadvertently helps organizations like al-Qaeda. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/please-call-us-islamic Are Muslims Islamists? Conflating Islam with Islamism has sparked a dangerous discourse in which the majority of Muslims, who are not Islamist, bear the brunt. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/are-muslims-islamists

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute and author of "The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey," warned of the rise of authoritarianism in Turkey under President Recep Erdogan.

In attempting to cast Turkey as a standalone Middle Eastern power, President Erdogan has often broken ranks with the United States and other traditional Western allies, embracing a foreign policy that aims to restore Turkey's imperial reach. In his latest book, Erdogan's Empire: Turkey and the Politics of the Middle East, to be released September 19, Soner Cagaptay analyzes these evolving ties in the context of Turkish and Ottoman history.

Turkey's decision to risk a rupture with the United States -- and NATO -- in order to purchase the S-400 missile defense system represents a monumental departure from the country's contentious, centuries-old relationship with Russia. In this video, Beyer Family Fellow Dr. Soner Cagaptay recounts Turkey's long history of conflict with its northern neighbor and explains the factors that may have led President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to break with the past.