Turkey under Erdogan is returning to hostility against traditional enemy Russia even as Turkey has alienated America and Europe--especially NATO--and revives historic hatreds in the Arab rule based on Ottoman colonial rule.
I know I've said that the Fuck-Up Fairy lives in Russia, but Turkey's Erdogan sure does give Putin a run for the money:
Turkey has become a very active enemy of Russia in Syria, Libya and Armenia. Russia has military forces in all three of these hot spots but does want to escalate. The Turks are more eager to fight, as the current Turkish leader needs foreign distractions to quiet a growing number of angry voters at home. No such problem in Russia where the foreign adventures are carried out on the cheap as economic investments first and political maneuvers second. Now Russia finds itself confronting Turkey, a traditional enemy for centuries, in three of these areas. In Syria the Russians have the Turks on the defensive. There is a similar situation in Libya. Both of these conflict zones involve Moslem majority areas that were once part of the Ottoman Turk empire for centuries. These Arabs have bad memories of Turkish imperial rule and are hostile towards the returning democratic Turks.
Angering the Russians by fighting them in so many places so soon after seemingly turning to the Russians for help as Erdogan alienated NATO, and particularly America, is stupid. Three years ago I noted that any Turkish pivot to Russia would only be temporary until Turkey had the military power (including nukes) to stand on its own. So ending the Russian reset is rather premature.
But in the meantime we can marvel at the structural integrity of Sultan Erdogan's foot as he shoots it repeatedly.
