Enes Kanter Freedom
Time, Jan. 4, 2023
Over the last year we’ve all been spectators of an interesting scene: the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to veto the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO. The Western reaction fell surprisingly short. Once again Erdogan was playing a game that he has mastered throughout his uninterrupted rule of two decades.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine brought a significant opportunity for Erdogan because Turkey is practically the only country with leverage on both sides of the trench. Of course, he could not stop the war. But Erdogan has used the situation to promote his persona within and outside Turkey. Considering Turkey’s deep economic issues recently escalating into a full-blown crisis, this mediator role was the only saving grace for an aging strongman.
Being a great Machiavellian, Erdogan wanted to utilize his potential position to buy legitimacy in the West and convince them that his strategic worth outweighed his numerous violations of democratic principles. So far, it has paid off. The West ignored the fact that Turkey was the only NATO member that did not join the sanctions against Russia. Furthermore, a variety of Western leaders made official visits to Turkey, including the U.N. Secretary-General, all of which bolsters Erdogan’s international credibility. …source