Stanly Johny, The Hindu
Much of the blame should lie with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After becoming Prime Minister in 2003, Mr. Erdogan adopted an assertive foreign policy. He opposed the Iraq war, grew critical of Israel’s atrocities on the Palestinians, and presented Turkey as a regional power in West Asia. But his approach also pandered to sectarian Sunni sentiments and to Islamist Turkish nationalism, which counterposed the Kemalist secular order. When the dictators in Tunisia and Egypt were overthrown by popular protests in early 2011, Mr. Erdogan found it an opportunity to expand Turkish influence....
