Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s position of unambiguously supporting Hamas and condemning Israel raises a question of capital importance.
Will the European community follow it openly, or will it have to mark its difference?
Turkey has several advantages in its game.
It is above all a country occupying a major strategic position, both with regard to the Ukrainian conflict and that igniting the Middle East.
Ankara is also a migration regulator which could, apart from its considerable economic role in the grain crisis between Russia and Ukraine, raise the specter of mass immigration to put pressure on Europeans.
Moreover, its imposing community on the old continent, particularly in Germany with more than six million Turks, would have, from an electoral point of view, in the event of ideological dissonance, the capacity to tip parliaments and assemblies into the hands of sponsors who threaten these institutions through terrorist attacks across Europe.
Its preponderant role at the heart of NATO could also be decisive in influencing Stoltenberg, or even dividing the Atlantic Alliance.
Turkey’s position regarding the Middle East is also an indicator of that of the Kremlin.
Indeed, Putin could soon be led to decide in favor of Palestine, which would politically strengthen Iran and Syria, Russia’s allies.
By having a foot in Europe and Asia Minor, and given the circumstances, Turkey is therefore an essential partner which will be more than courted from now on.
A major asset for the Arabian Peninsula.
A pilot fish that might just have the appetite of a barracuda.
Credit: The New York Times
