What should West expect from Erdogan as president?
The United States and others in the West are speculating about what Turkish foreign policy might look like under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose nomination speech left no doubt about his strong Islamic inclinations.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s nomination as the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate for president has spurred speculation about Turkey’s foreign policy under an Erdogan presidency should he win as expected.
Taken at face value, Erdogan’s nomination speech on July 1 provides reasons for concern in this regard when evaluated from a Western perspective, revealing that his Islamist inclinations remain as strong as ever. Praising Allah as the one "who brought this cause, this movement, this struggle to the present day,” Erdogan said he had also pursued his political goals until now for the sake of the downtrodden people of Palestine, Egypt, Somalia and Afghanistan.
The only reference to ties with the West in his long speech — which was laced with heavy Islamic terminology and historic imagery as well as negative references to the Egyptian and Syrian regimes — was a passing remark about working harder as president to make Turkey a member of the European Union.
This isolated reference, embedded deep in his speech, did little to change its overbearingly Islamic tone. It also appeared to have been uttered merely for the sake of diplomatic correctness, rather than reflecting any genuine commitment, which Erdogan provided no indication as to how he intended to pursue.
