Ankara Moving Eastwards

Bernhard Zand explains why a “frustrated Ankara is turning away from the West and looking east toward Hamas and Iran.” “For decades, the Turkish people served as a strong ally of the Jewish state and pursued membership in the European Union as chief foreign policy goal.” Now, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has transformed his country into an Anatolian tiger and “a loud and arrogant regional power.” “Erdogan understands that he doesn’t stand a chance in Europe for the time being, and he is instead redirecting his energy toward the East. It isn’t a particularly masterful way of releasing political frustration, but neither is it entirely surprising.”