PANDEMIC MANAGEMENT POLICIES IN TURKEY

Executive Summary 

The policy note titled “Politics of Pandemic Management in Turkey”, prepared by Research and Academic Affairs Coordinator Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Senior Lecturer Mustafa Kutlay, Department of International Policy, City University of London, and Director Fuat Keyman, was published in October 2021. Turkey has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the initial phases, the country showed an unexpected degree of resilience. In later phases, however, significant administrative issues and capacity-related challenges surfaced. The Turkish case offers three key lessons: (1) an exclusive form of governance hinders the successful management of a crisis on the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) a polarizing governmental discourse that demonizes its opponents weakens public trust in the government during a pandemic; (3) even in cases when anti-science denialism is not present (as in Turkey), an insufficient regard for scientific expertise when scientific recommendations do not suit the government’s political and ideological priorities can lead to coordination and compliance failures.