Yet Another Look Into Erdoğan's Ambitions

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Sep 23, 2014 at 19:12

Turkish leader Erdoǧan found himself in brackish waters yesterday as he attempted to find some island of reprieve for his erstwhile reclamation of a former Turkish existence he evidently wishes he could have under some kind 'Ottomanesque' regional power. In his earlier times of power, his marked movement back to a more Muslim identity was tracked in this forum as a world that still has yet to figure Turkey out was left with little new information as to Erdoǧan's intentions and continuous shifting of fortunes while Damascus sits at the southern edge of Turkish ambitions.

Here, it seems, is a point he makes as noted: "The Ottoman State had a very successful administration system, and for centuries, these areas of crisis today had maintained their existence without problems. The Palestinian issue, the problems in Iraq and Syria, Crimea, Balkans, are all issues that came about after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire." It reads as a Freudian slip; that he would still like to see Turkey as the premier power in the region, even knowing the chances of pulling it off is unlikely under the current circumstances. But do not think the New York excursion has dampened his endeavors; not yet.

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