Book launch and conversation with author, David L. Phillips
Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has become Islamist, anti-American, and undemocratic. More journalists are jailed in Turkey than any other country. Turkey slaughters Kurds under the pretense of fighting terrorism. Erdogan seized on the failed coup attempt of July 2016 to justify a witch hunt, arresting tens of thousands and ordering the wholesale dismissal of alleged coup sympathizers.
An Uncertain Ally is a straightforward indictment of Erdogan. Drawing on inside sources in his Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the police, the book reveals corruption and money laundering schemes that benefited Erdogan, his cronies, and family members.
An Uncertain Ally exposes Turkey’s ties to jihadists in Syria and the Islamic State, raising doubts about Turkey's suitability as a NATO member. While Turkey has historically been important geopolitically, it has become an outlier in Europe and an uncertain ally of the United States. Under Erdogan, Turkey faces a dark future.
David L. Phillips is Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Phillips has served as Foreign Affairs Expert and as Senior Adviser to the U.S. Department of State and as Senior Adviser to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Phillips has worked at academic institutions as Executive Director of Columbia University’s International Conflict Resolution Program, Director of American University’s Program on Conflict Prevention and Peace-building, Fellow at Harvard University’s Future of Diplomacy Project Fellow, Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Center for Middle East Studies, and Professor of Preventive Diplomacy at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.
The event will be co-sponored by Institute for the Study of Human Rights and The Harriman Institute at Columbia University.
