The Turkish republic stands at a crucial juncture today. The latest constitutional amendment will change Turkey’s 94-year old parliamentary system of government. As the constitutional amendment bill awaits referendum, serious questions arise about the direction in which Turkey is heading.

Turkey’s insistence on a role for itself risks escalating the already fraught sectarian situation in Iraq, undermining Iraqi sovereignty and not yielding any significant military or political gains for itself.

Turkey is going where President Erdogan wants to take it to, as those who do not agree with him are too intimidated to stand in his way.

The coup has seriously dented Turkey’s image as a stable, secular, progressive and prosperous country. And Erdogan's witch-hunt has tarnished the country's reputation and credibility. Turkey’s polity and economy will take a long time to recover from the crippling attrition of recent days.

Erdogan and Gulen were allies until 2013 when a corruption scandal erupted and Gulen’s followers in the judiciary and police investigated ministers and officials close to Erdogan.

The only effective way to stop the flow of refugees is for Turkey to confiscate all boats or use brute force to prevent Syrians from going to the coast.

The AKP needs to go over the fundamentals of its decade long success in the country before it charts its future course. Its success in the previous decade was built on the pillars of national consolidation, economic growth and religious tolerance.

There is a sudden and dramatic change in Turkey’s policy towards the Islamic State. What explains this change and what might be Turkey’s calculations?