Hannah Lucinda Smith
In the war between the US and Iran, the leaders of both Turkey and Syria face the challenge of maintaining close relations with President Trump, concerns about overt alignment with Israel, and fears of stoking the flames of Kurdish militancy.
This year, Turkey’s President Erdoğan chose the war in Iran as the subject of his message to mark Eid, the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Calling for the Islamic world to unite, he vowed to ‘overcome the challenges in our geography’. He is no stranger to utilising religion and regional crises for political aims. Since the outbreak of the Arab Spring protests in late 2010, Erdoğan has aligned himself with Islamist movements, presenting himself as a protector of Muslims and a bulwark against Islamophobia in the West – a tactic that plays well with his conservative electoral base.
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