Turkey’s Narco-Authoritarian Turn: A Mafia Playground

This manuscript investigates how restrictions on CSOs affect the quality of horizontal accountability institutions like parliaments and courts. Our results imply that a crackdown on CSOs serves as a warning sign of deteriorating horizontal oversight.

This chapter considers the Dismantling Law through the journey of the Ford Ka stolen from Uber driver Diego in the East Zone. Prior to the Law, the dismantling market was highly susceptible to illegality, as might be expected from a market in stolen car parts. This has led to a conflict between actors competing for economic and political gains from illegal money.

Die Verherrlichung von Gewalt und das Versprechen von schnellem Geld und Drogen: In der Türkei werden Kinder und Jugendliche über Tiktok rekrutiert. Berlin wird zum Schauplatz offen ausgetragener Kämpfe zwischen türkischen Mafiabanden. Dr. Hakkı Taş erklärt, wie der Staat reagieren sollte.

In einem aktuellen Beitrag des Politikwissenschaftlers Dr. Hakki Tas heißt es, die Verwandlung der Türkei in einen Zufluchtsort für die Mafia sei nicht auf ihre Grenzen beschränkt geblieben.

The study, written by political scientist Dr. Hakkı Taş and published in October, describes what it calls Turkey’s “narco-authoritarian turn,” in which criminal networks, political repression and corruption reinforce one another. 

Europe plays a limited role in Gulf investments and the geopolitical considerations behind them. International mediation is urgently required in Gaza and Sudan. Lebanon and Syria are threatened by fragmentation. We present ten things set to inform events in the Middle East and North Africa in 2026.

Recent Europol reports have warned of the central role played by Turkish criminal groups in the narcotics trade, especially cocaine and heroin. Their activities and conflicts have also spilled into Europe. 

As Venezuela grapples with a legitimacy crisis following the 28 July elections, tensions rise. The country is at a crossroads, with coordinated international pressure and strategic dialogue urgently needed to support democratic forces and help navigate the complex path towards a peaceful transition.

Do war economies thwart postwar transformations and peacebuilding? This paper reveals a complex relationship shaped by political regimes and state capacities. It suggests that postwar countries can strengthen democratic institutions and state presence, rather than being inherently doomed by their war economies.

Publics and politicians are divided on whether cannabis regulation will increase or decrease drug violence. Using a Policy Delphi, which the article introduces and discusses, can contribute to clarify what to expect of the legal regulation of cannabis regarding drug-related violence and crime.

Does the fall of Assad in Syria mean the end of the drug known as Captagon? No. While the Islamist interim government has destroyed drug laboratories and pills, demand for cheap drugs remains strong in Syria and in its neighbouring countries. Captagon production and smuggling are transnationalising.

From the Gaza War and ethnic conflicts in Lebanon and Syria to the significance of a second Trump administration for the region, the MENA remains of central importance for Europe. We present ten topics that will play a prominent role in relations between the two regions in the year ahead.

Trump’s disruptive policies could inadvertently provide the impetus to bring Europe and Latin America closer together. With smart policies, the incoming German government can leverage shared interests for a renewed partnership.

The recent diversification of external actors present in Africa has served to increase the agency of its governments but may also bolster poor governance and fuel conflict in the long run. Western powers must clarify their priorities regarding goals and partners, as well as examine own biases here.

What went wrong with two decades of EU aid in Afghanistan and what must change? The Study Commission and Committee of Inquiry highlighted key failures. Drawing on interviews and multilayered Afghan perspectives, new insights and concrete policy recommendations for future aid intervention are given.

This manuscript investigates how restrictions on CSOs affect the quality of horizontal accountability institutions like parliaments and courts. Our results imply that a crackdown on CSOs serves as a warning sign of deteriorating horizontal oversight.

This chapter considers the Dismantling Law through the journey of the Ford Ka stolen from Uber driver Diego in the East Zone. Prior to the Law, the dismantling market was highly susceptible to illegality, as might be expected from a market in stolen car parts. This has led to a conflict between actors competing for economic and political gains from illegal money.