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.
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.”
Erdogan’s plane made a surprise landing in Houston, Texas, after leaving Mexico. The reason for the unexpected stopover is unknown.
Not a problem at all for Erdogan. His outburst against President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden was much more important than his anti-protocol in Mexico and lack of interest in ancient Mexican history. He was very consistent and outspoken on all things pertinent to portraying him as the “Muslim ummah’s [nation] main spokesperson and leader.”
