Erdoğan’s Islamist Rhetoric Contradicts His Policies
Erdoğan’s Islamist Rhetoric Contradicts His Policies For years, the regime of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has sought to portray itself as a defender of the Islamic world. In numerous speeches, Erdoğan has expressed solidarity with Palestine and the Gaza Strip, voiced support for the rights of Muslims, and presented Turkey as an independent and influential power in the Islamic world. However, “the Turkish government has never taken concrete steps regarding Palestine.” Yet politics cannot be judged solely on the basis of rhetoric; the true political dimension of a government’s decisions becomes apparent when its political and economic interests conflict with its declared intentions. Against this background, the current position of the Turkish government toward Iran raises serious questions about this contradiction. On the one hand, the Turkish government publicly expresses solidarity with Muslims throughout the Islamic world; on the other, it ma...