The Middle East Report Online (MERO) published an article by Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies Nabil Al-Tikriti, entitled “Autopsy of Erdoǧan’s Istanbul Defeat.” In the course of this article, Professor Al-Tikriti analyzed the political and economic dynamics driving the results of the June 23, 2019 Istanbul special elections, which proved a landslide defeat for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“Certainties that had defined Turkish politics for a generation were thrown into doubt by the overwhelming victory Istanbul voters handed the opposition CHP party’s mayoral candidate Ekrem İmamoǧlu on June 23, 2019,” Al-Tikriti said. “Voters responded with righteous and smoldering fury to the ruling AKP party’s blatant tampering with the democratic process after it had annulled İmamoǧlu’s previous, and much closer, victory over the AKP’s candidate Binali Yıldırım on March 31, forcing a new election for mayor of the Greater Istanbul Municipality. While not the first electoral setback Turkish President and AKP party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan has faced, it was the first time his own actions boomeranged so pointedly against his own agenda…”

For the full article see: https://merip.org/2019/09/autopsy-of-erdo%C7 %A7ans-istanbul-defeat/

This summer Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti completed an academic year as a Fulbright Scholar in Baku, Azerbaijan, affiliated with Baku State University. In the course of this past year he conducted historical research in four manuscript collections and libraries; completed an American Studies curriculum reform proposal and led a workshop on teaching undergraduate research methods at Baku State University; presented UMW to six audiences (four American Centers, one high school, and a U.S. Study Abroad office); offered two guest lectures on Ottoman History at ADA University; organized a guest lecture at Baku State University; observed elections in Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine; and prepared proposals for an international conference and student exchange program.

For all their generous hospitality and gracious hosting, Dr. Al-Tikriti extends his deepest gratitude to his points of contact at Baku State University, the U.S. Embassy in Baku, and ADA University. He hopes to maintain communications and collaboration with his Azerbaijani colleagues well into the future.

Associate Professor of Middle Eastern History Dr. Nabil Al-Tikriti served as an election monitor for the Ukraine parliamentary elections on 16-24 July. Joining 90 Americans in the U.S. delegation of some 750+ observers total, Al-Tikriti worked as an OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) STO (Short Term Observer) in 11-12 rural villages in the agricultural region around Berdyansk, in Eastern Ukraine. His observation partner was a French government official, based in Paris. For more information on these Ukrainian elections, and OSCE’s support of these elections, please see:
https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/kazakhstan/418187.

In the course of his visit, Al-Tikriti spent four days in Berdyansk, an industrial port on the Sea of Azov, and five days in the capital Kiev, where observers carried out preliminary briefings. While there, he found time to visit the Chernobyl Museum, the National History Museum, and several World War II monuments in the rural villages around Berdyansk.

Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October 2019, the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President Volodymyr Zelensky dissolved parliament early on 21 May 2019 (a day after his inauguration). In the event, the “Servant of the People” party won the most seats, enabling the formation of a new government. For more information on the politics behind this elections, see this article.

This is the 15th OSCE-monitored election Al-Tikriti has observed since 1997, and the 3rd within the past year.

Associate Professor of Middle Eastern History Dr. Nabil Al-Tikriti served as an election monitor for the Kazakhstan presidential elections on 4-12 June. Joining 29 other Americans in the U.S. delegation of some 300+ observers total, Al-Tikriti worked as an OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) STO (Short Term Observer) in 8-9 rural villages and the main town in the somewhat remote steppe region around Capaev, in Western Kazakhstan province. His observation partner was a Polish human rights activist, based in Prague. For more information on these Kazakhstan elections, and OSCE’s support of these elections, please see:
https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/kazakhstan/418187

In the course of his visit, Al-Tikriti also spent two days in Uralsk, an oil exploration base in Western Kazakhstan, and two days in the capital Nur Sultan (Astane), where observers carried out preliminary briefings.While in Nur Sultan, he visited Nazarbayev University, the country’s premier higher education facility.

Kazakhstan’s ruling party, Nur Otan, had nominated Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as its candidate for a snap presidential vote after he was backed by the country’s founding leader, President Nursultan Nazarbayev, following his resignation in March 2019. In the election itself, state election officials awarded Tokayev 70% of the vote, in line with exit polls announced by state media one hour after polls closed. 

This is the 14th OSCE-monitored election Al-Tikriti has observed since 1997.

The Middle East Report Online (MERO) published an article by Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies Nabil Al-Tikriti, entitled “Turkish Voters Upset Erdogan’s Competitive Authoritarianism.” In the course of this article, Professor Al-Tikriti analyzed the political and economic dynamics driving the results of the March 31, 2019 Turkish municipal elections, which proved a major defeat for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“Turkish voters sent a strong message to its long-standing ruling party and its leader on March 31, 2019 that the government’s authoritarian turn has not fully succeeded,” Al-Tikriti said. “In nationwide municipal elections, for the first time in a quarter century, the political movement largely associated with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lost control over both the country’s economic and political capitals, as well as numerous other districts throughout the country…” Read more.