# Week Ender: Why Europe can’t avoid Erdogan

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322/week-ender-why-europe-can-t-avoid-erdogan
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322/week-ender-why-europe-can-t-avoid-erdogan.md
Podcast: [Brussels Playbook Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322)
Published: 2026-07-10T02:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.politico.eu/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast/
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/POLL9105254028.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322/episodes/week-ender-why-europe-can-t-avoid-erdogan
Duration seconds: 2536

## Resource

This week, NATO leaders gathered in Ankara — giving President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a powerful stage at a moment when Turkey’s strategic value to Europe is rising. Sarah Wheaton speaks to Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, about Erdoğan’s moment at this week’s NATO summit, Turkey’s complicated relationship with Europe and the United States, and whether the EU can build a serious partnership with Ankara while still confronting its crackdown on political opposition and free media. Then, author and POLITICO contributor John Kampfner joins the show to discuss his new book, “Braver New World” — and what Europe can learn from places that have found unusually good answers to big problems, from Vienna’s housing model to Finland’s schools and Estonia’s digital state. And since we’re book nerds, we’d love to hear your recommendations for summer reads; we’ll feature some of them in a future episode. Send us a voice note or message us on WhatsApp here, or at +32 491 05 06 29. You can also email us at podcast@politico.eu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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## Transcript

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