Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been introducing his own version of newspeak to Turkey’s public since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011. This new lexicon emerged with abnormal policies including Ankara’s “open border” policy — not just to Syrian refugees but also weapons, ammunition and militants. This vocabulary allows for incredible, fantastic claims and figures about Syria’s losses, the number of refugees Turkey accepted, expenditures, population figures and demographics.
Recently, Erdogan has been using a colorful Syria map outlining occupied areas and arenas of influence. In a recent interview on Turkey’s state-owned television channel TRT, he said the Astana peace negotiations had prevented Idlib from becoming a lake of blood.
