Yes, time was that Pasha Tayyip and Bibi were, if not besties, at least something right next to it. Then came that unfortunate misunderstanding re: the Mavi Marmara, and the whole best buds thing went down the toilet in a hurry.
Fast forward a few short years, and the Sultan finds himself caught between innumerable rocks and hard places. His NATO betters are on the threshold of giving him the heave-ho, as is a substantial segment of his electorate. The man's skin gets thinner by the day; anyone writing these ruminations in Turkey would be enjoying the hospitality of the state in short order.
But Erdogan is not a man to dwell on the past; he is determined to be remembered as a maker of history, not a victim of history. Now that every Erdogan ally has been stabbed in the back at least once, he is looking to build bridges with those few who have not been stabbed in the back twice. Yet.
Hence all those good news stories about rebuilding the ties with Israel...
And then this.
That's The Sultan mending fences with Hamas boss Khaled Meshaal today. Apparently this is how one mends fences with Israel...
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