Reserved for subscribers
CHRONIC. The Turkish president is blocking Sweden’s entry into NATO and threatening his neighbors to flatter his electorate before the presidential election on May 14.
By Christian Makarian
© EMIN SANSAR / ANADOLU AGENCY / Anadolu Agency via AFP
Published on
Dn the gallery of authoritarian leaders, he is a unique example. Only Recep Tayyip Erdogan could achieve such duplicity. In a restrained voice, he proclaims himself a peaceful mediator between Russia (which he spares by refusing to sanction it) and Ukraine (which he encourages by delivering arms), while in a hoarse voice, he threatened several of its neighbors with war. Whether it is Greece, the Kurdish forces in northern Syria or those in Dahuk (Iraq), the (Greek) Cypriot authorities or Armenia, all the historical victims of Turkish imperialism share the honor of receiving the bravado of the stay (president) of Ankara.
Erdogan has established his cast: he has chosen his allies according to the countries that can bring him fame,…