Turkey’s centenary

Until early 2023, it seemed that Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey was set to celebrate the 100 years since its founding on October 29 with an emphasis on how the founders "threw the Greeks into the sea." The Turkish president's oft-repeated threat, "We will come one night," stressed this past and the later invasion of Cyprus. The warming of ties which is being attempted with Greece, after the catastrophic earthquakes in southeastern Turkey in February, changed the narrative (at least for now).

But Hamas' terrorism and the war in Gaza are highlighting something far more important in Turkey society: A century after Mustafa Kemal's establishment of the secular state, what is Turkey's identity today? Can it be both with NATO and with Hamas? When will the time come for it to choose the direction of the "Turkish Century" which Erdogan envisions?

Over the years, the Turkish...