Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains one of the most controversial world leaders today. His angry remarks, which are laced with moralistic arguments and aimed at countries both east and west, have left him largely isolated internationally. Since he is the one calling the shots in Turkey today, this has also severely harmed Ankara’s potential as a regional player.
Erdogan nevertheless remains unperturbed and defiant. While returning from a trip last week to Colombia, Cuba and Mexico — countries that actually have little to do with Turkey — Erdogan acknowledged to reporters on his plane that he was isolated, claiming this was due to “jealousy.”
