Question, what is "treasure"? Moving on from Spanish Galleons, my working definition is that which carries significant value. Three points come to mind, until about 2013 Turkey was working on EU membership.This would have been a strategic move for the Turkish economy. This space is worth watching. Then there is Incirlik air base, a Turkish base that the US has access to for NATO related operations. The base can be used by the US for non-NATO operations with Turkish permission. That latter point is a bargaining chip. It's location was strategic in the Cold War due to its proximity to the USSR. It's still strategic because Russia is back on the horizon. The third treasure is the Bosphorous, a choke point for sea trade and foreign naval pivots.
These are just my thoughts and not an expert opinion. However in my humble opinion the neo-Ottoman in Ankara has some capital in the Great Game.
A good post and you make some valid points, because I was thinking of treasure as in a nation's Treasury and had in my mind a narrower definition as I was writing that post. I forgot the larger picture which is a mortal sin for someone who studied & worked in geography
Interestingly enough according to some, the
Treaty of Lausanne expires in four years, however a quick scan of the treaty translation finds no such provision, but I could be wrong.
Can Turkey renovate its empire by the end of the Treaty of Lausanne 2023… an article published by the Rawbet Center for Research and Strategic Studies in Jordan, argues that this is the case and that Erdogan is aiming to restore the Ottoman Empire. Erdogan is also arguing for a
revision of the Treaty claiming that it is flawed. Erdogan has already displayed the size of his
political ego and it would not surprise me that he will attempt to claim tracts of territory from Iraq, including Mosul, Syria, Iran, Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia and Armenia. He has already spoken about his desire to restore the Ottoman Empire to it's former glory.
@Feanor it's a wonder that Vladimir Vladimirovich hasn't had himself crowned Tsar of All The Russias. That way he wouldn't have to concern himself with pesky things like term limits and elections
This remark makes me wonder if this is Erdogans endgame - have himself crowned / anointed /acclaimed as
Padishah (Sultan) of the resurrected Ottoman Empire with the empire's name changed to that of the Erdogan Empire, because he would be the founding Padishah of the new empire.
Because the US already has plenty of opponents. Adding Turkey to them unnecessarily is unwise, in my opinion. And without open condemnation and media (corporate and state) involvement this story will die quietly like all the other previous stories about Turkey and ISIS.
Given the current state of politics in the US, what difference is one more opponent going to make?
More than that, he is surmising that there even were helicopters, after all the persistent reports notwithstanding, I haven't seen any solid evidence surface, just the claims.
Yep, he is but we have to bear in mind that
@John Fedup is our pet Canadian so I suppose allowances have to be made
But Turkey is an important player when it comes to controlling treasure and its routes of travel. Would Russia be able to bypass the failure of the South Stream pipeline so easily if the US hadn't alienated Turkey and made it easy for Putin to reach an understanding with Erdogan? Would Turkey be coordinating with Iran on issues like Syria or Iraqi Kurdistan?
It is and I read something a week or so ago about Erdogan building a canal to the west of the Bosphorus Strait, circumventing the restrictions of the Treaty of Lausanne regarding warships and tonnage through the Bosphorus Straits. I also think that Erdogan has been watching Putin closely and reading his playbook, so I would not be surprised to see Turkish grey men, amongst other things, around the region in the near future. The US and NATO will lose access to Incirlik and other facilities on Turkish soil in time and I think that the S-400 SAM maybe just the start of Turkey acquiring some Russian military equipment.
