Erdogan Defies the West to Make Turkey a Regional Power

(Worthy News) – When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reopens Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia for prayers next week, it will be the crowning symbol of his mission to reassert Turkey’s role as a Muslim power on the global stage. Yet Turkey’s rarely seemed more alone.

From conflicts in Syria and Libya to strikes in Iraq, NATO’s second-largest army is at work day and night with armed drones, warplanes and tanks. Turkish ships sail the Mediterranean, quarreling over gas resources with European Union members Greece and Cyprus.

After nearly two decades at the helm of a nation that straddles the Middle East and Europe, Erdogan has arguably built Turkey into a regional power with more international clout than at any time since its founding as a secular Westward-facing state by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923. [ Source: Bloomberg (Read More…) ]