Erdogan's neo-Ottomanism

Over the years, Turkey's approach to the region became increasingly driven by neo-Ottomanism. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pursues an increasingly daring neo-Ottoman policy throughout the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean. 

Erdogan's neo-Ottoman and pan-Islamist vision of a renewed ascendency of the old Turkish empire was expressed clearly and concisely earlier this month, when he declared that "Jerusalem is our city," before referring to the Ottoman Empire's four-century rule over the city, running from 1517 to 1917.

Turkey has become the state leader of the regional Sunni Islamist bloc, whose most prominent other members are the Gulf state of Qatar, and Hamas, as well as international networks of Muslim Brotherhood activists that cooperate with this coalition's activities.

One recent 100-page report from a London-based think tank concluded that Qatar and Turkey are "bankrolling and supporting an interlinked network of Muslim Brotherhood organizations across Europe."

Since coming to power, the AKP party has worked tirelessly to reverse the secular character of the modern Turkish state in 2002. As guided by a Turkish variant of the Muslim Brotherhood philosophy, the party's ideological doctrine is based on a rejection of the secularism of the Turkish state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk a century ago, and a return to being the region's pan-Islamic and geo-political center of gravity, thereby returning Turkey to its historical size and role.

Erdogan has three identities: Islamist, Turkish, and Ottoman and he sees no contradiction between any of these. Observers believe President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign policy is an expression of neo-Ottomanism, the pursuit of a Turkish presence and role in the territories that were formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, while celebrating the glory and achievements of the empire at home.