The imperialism of "anti-imperialists"
Turkey's embattled tyrant tries to keep his imperial delusions alive
Turkey’s embattled President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has in recent times outlined nakedly imperialist ambitions. Among them is his claim of “spiritual geography” and expanding ambitions beyond Turkey’s present borders, presumably taking in and beyond the borders of the Ottoman Empire.
His recent speeches laid claim to territory in Syria, Israel and Iran, and another speech at Eid called for the destruction of Israel. Just last week, Erdogan expected support for the occupation of Cyprus from “brotherly” Turkic-speaking nations. With the obvious exception of Azerbaijan, none of them did. Nor is any support coming from the rest of the Muslim World.
Laying claim to Nowruz is also part of this harebrained project inspired by neo-Ottomanism and pan-Turkism (Turanism), if not outright fascist and racist understandings of culture and history. And this isn’t limited to members of pro-Erdogan coalition parties either, as parties who’ve been part of the opposition also share similar ideological groundings.
These historical fantasies cannot compete with the ancient histories of the peoples of MENA, Caucasus and Central Asia.