Turkey is problematic country for us, the natives, how can foreign experts on Turkey understand how we do what we do?

In every country, there are experts who closely follow diverse institutions, leading figures and developments in a range of sectors in other countries. In foreign office, intelligence departments, think tanks…

In times of the Cold War, following the Soviet Union at a certain level of expertise was a profession in the USA, and experts in this professional field were called ‘Kremlinologist‘. I am sure, there was some sort of term similar to this in the Soviet Union too, used for those professionals who followed developments in the USA closely.

This notion came to my mind when I was pondering upon present-day Turkey. I wonder what people think about us, who are known as ‘experts on Turkey’ and make a living from following our country closely, drawing up reports or making decisions on the basis of such expertise level reports while they lead their lives in their own countries.

Think a while on this question here by putting yourself into their shoes, then continue reading if you wish.

Confusing facts

President Tayyip Erdoğan introduced the new ‘judicial reform package‘ of his administration through a public speech the day before yesterday. The package includes promises about reforming a number of legislations and practices that have drawn sharp criticism at home and abroad.