Skip to main content

Erdogan jabs at Obama in calculated move

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used his recent visit to Latin America to make his claim to leadership of the Muslim world.
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan gestures during a conference at the Foreign Affairs building  in Mexico City February 12, 2015. Erdogan is in Mexico for an official visit. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido (MEXICO - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4PE4X

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's colorful three-country Latin America tour to Colombia, Cuba and Mexico was cut short for unknown reasons. He was scheduled to leave Mexico on Feb. 14, after visiting the pre-Columbian Teotihuacan pyramids. However, he decided to leave on Feb. 13, prompting the Turkish public to speculate about the real reason.

The official explanation was that he had already completed the political part of his visit and had just canceled the “cultural” part of his visit, declining to go 30 miles outside of Mexico City to Teotihuacan. Whatever the “real reason” behind cutting his tour short — or even if the real reason is the one mentioned — a senior diplomat, who wanted to remain anonymous, told me, “It is a breach of protocol, an anti-protocol act.”

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.