now engaged not only in Syria, but also in Libya (essentially against a coalition of countries that include Greece, France, Cyprus, Egypt and Turkey’s regional antagonist, Saudi Arabia), while the Turkish navy is spread out from the Black Sea to eastern Africa and all the way to Qatar.
There are constant and numerous airspace violations by Turkish fighter jets, while Greece was infuriated by a maritime boundary treaty signed between Turkey and the Libyan Government of National Accord which establishes an exclusive economic zone between them, in the Mediterranean Sea. Greece regards the deal as ‘void’ and ‘geographically absurd’, as it ignores the presence of several Greek islands between the Turkish and Libyan coasts.
In this context, the abandonment of Ataturk’s legacy is also a direct challenge to the treaty of Lausanne, which Erdogan has spoken of many times as disgraceful for Turkey. His revisionist worldview would seek to overturn it, and open up Turkey’s sea borders deeper into the Aegean.
Erdogan’s firm friendship with Donald Trump has so far protected him from worse sanctions and responses by European leaders. Will the Hagia Sophia be a wake-up call to a West that has so far tolerated far too many transgressions? Does it even care? The time for complacency is over.
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