Power abhors a vacuum, so Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking advantage of the recent earthquake in the Middle East, which was the result of Syria's Moscow puppet President Bashar Assad fleeing into exile. Erdogan has made several lightening moves to establish Turkey as a new power center in the Middle East.
Erdogan is seeking to resurrect the old Ottoman Empire, but with a twist. He wants to establish an Islamist/leftist anti-liberal bloc "that merges Islamism and leftist anti-liberalism to counter the evolving Middle Eastern order," writes Middle East expert Loqman Radopey in the Middle East Forum.
The fall of Assad was a godsend for Erdogan. It removed a primary impediment to his regional ambitions, and, after strengthening his hand at home by arresting his main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdogan has opened the door to implementing a plan to remake the Middle East.
The arrest of the popular İmamoğlu, who was beating him soundly in recent polls, indicates that Erdogan plans to rule for life. He's been grooming his youngest son, Bilal, to succeed him. It's believed that Erdogan wants to establish some sort of "sultanate" with hereditary claims to leadership.
While Sunni Turkey and Shiite Iran may be at odds in many ways, they share a broad range of interests, especially kicking the West out of the Middle East.
Turkey and Iran have effectively weaponized Islamism, wokism, and anti-Western rhetoric to undermine liberal democratic influences in the region. The alignment between Qatar, Turkey, and Iran serves as a nexus for anti-Semitic jihadist movements that disguise themselves as resistance against Western colonialism. Erdogan’s AKP and Iran’s Supreme Leader both position themselves as defenders of the oppressed while blaming the West for Islamophobia—a narrative that resonates across both Islamist and leftist ideological circles.
Turkey's membership in NATO desperately needs to be reevaluated. Erdogan has jailed thousands of political opponents, stifled a free press, reengineered the courts to do his bidding, and holds the country in thrall to an Islamist ideology. He's been in power as prime minister and president since 2003. He has remade the educational system, meaning that two generations of children have been propagandized to believe what he wants them to believe.
Turkey is privy to some of the most closely held U.S. secrets, and the United States has stationed dozens of nuclear missiles on its soil. They're already in possession of some of the deadliest military tech on the planet. How sure are we that it won't be used against us someday?
The delusional belief in Washington and Brussels that once Erdogan is gone, Turkey will revert to its democratic, secular roots is nonsense.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference, “The arrest of the mayor is deeply concerning. Turkey must uphold the democratic values, especially the rights of elected officials.”
What "democratic values"? He's put dozens of opposition politicians in jail! The "rights of elected officials" mean nothing to this dictator.
Despite the threat of a crackdown, hundreds of thousands of Turks rallied in Istanbul for the release of İmamoğlu.
Large crowds waving Turkish flags and banners poured into the sea-front rally in the Maltepe district of the country’s largest city to attend a "Freedom For Imamoglu" rally organized by the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the country's main opposition group.
"If justice is silent, the people will speak," one banner held aloft in the crowd read.
Speaking at the event, CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said millions of Turks were seeking Imamoglu's release and an early presidential election. He called the charges against the mayor baseless and politically motivated.
The government denies any influence over the judiciary and says the courts are independent.
Fifty years ago, the Turkish military could have been counted on to stage a coup. They were the guardians of secularism in Turkey from the end of the Ottoman Empire to the end of the 20th century. The weak, futile military coup attempt in 2016 was the last gasp of secularism in Turkey.
Erdogan looks firmly ensconced in the presidency, and unless some unpredictable event such as an assassination or a sudden death occurs, he will remain there.
Turkey is worse off for it.
