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Are Erdogan’s outbursts undermining Turkey’s interests?

Impulsive statements made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leave Ankara without a coherent and consistent foreign policy.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the International Istanbul Law Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX2P58Q

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to learn the hard way that the international arena is not a place that will serve his political desires and ambitions. Yet he continues to come out with ill-considered outbursts that pose difficulties for Ankara at a time when it needs international support to overcome the difficulties it increasingly faces at home and abroad.

This was brought home again when he claimed recently that the Turkish military was in Syria to put an end to Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Addressing the Istanbul meeting of the Association of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Nov. 29, Erdogan said the United Nations had done nothing while a million people were killed in Syria.

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