He will play both sides as he always does. Erdogans support base arent prowest liberals, frankly they despise the west, they feel they have been a tool of the west for decades and have gotten nothing in return (which frankly is true). Turkey has tried to join the EU and has been its lapdog for decades, and yet they havent been allowed to, all while everyone wants to let Ukraine in immediately. Turkey is only good for pointing missiles to Russia, but not good enough to join the “superior white civilized” EU. Thats where Erdogan comes in, hes a nationalist, he claims to “put Turkey first, defend its interests”.
Thats a big problem for the west, thats why they tried to coup him in 2016. However, that doesnt mean Erdogan is antiimperialist or antiwest, hes more comparable to Orban in Hungary. Hes willing to be the wests lackey, but only for a good price, otherwise he will serve the wests enemies. Thats what this is about, getting the west to bow before him, instead of Turkey bowing towards the west, as had been the case during the Cold War. Not a good guy but creates trouble for the west so thats cool i guess.
He will play both sides as he always does. Erdogans support base arent prowest liberals, frankly they despise the west, they feel they have been a tool of the west for decades and have gotten nothing in return (which frankly is true). Turkey has tried to join the EU and has been its lapdog for decades, and yet they havent been allowed to, all while everyone wants to let Ukraine in immediately. Turkey is only good for pointing missiles to Russia, but not good enough to join the “superior white civilized” EU. Thats where Erdogan comes in, hes a nationalist, he claims to “put Turkey first, defend its interests”.
Thats a big problem for the west, thats why they tried to coup him in 2016. However, that doesnt mean Erdogan is antiimperialist or antiwest, hes more comparable to Orban in Hungary. Hes willing to be the wests lackey, but only for a good price, otherwise he will serve the wests enemies. Thats what this is about, getting the west to bow before him, instead of Turkey bowing towards the west, as had been the case during the Cold War. Not a good guy but creates trouble for the west so thats cool i guess.