Russia’s military intervention could be the last nail in the coffin of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist/Sunni-based desires for the future of war-torn Syria. It has also left him facing stark truths about where Ankara’s security interests ultimately lie when push comes to shove in any serious international crisis on Turkey’s borders.
Erdogan has made his anti-Western sentiments and dislike for NATO more than apparent in the past, even though Turkey is a long-standing member of the alliance and a candidate for EU membership. He is therefore in the spotlight now for what one analyst has referred to as his “full U-turn” in this regard.
