Peter Lavelle: With Turkey Now Closed To The West Will Ankara Realign Itself?

More thoughts on the failed coup attempt in Turkey: what are the geopolitical implications? At least rhetorically, Erdogan is probably forever branded himself as a liability in the eyes of the west. His authoritarian addictions are plain to see but will be tolerated as long as he works constructively on the issues of refugees (which he probably won’t) and as a member of NATO (which is clearly open to question as Erdogan indirectly blames Washington for being behind the coup attempt).

At this point, he is the bad and distant relation in the family the west will tolerate. The west tolerates Israel’s apartheid and Saudi’s medievalism. Nonetheless, Erdogan may start to seriously re-think Turkey’s strategic trajectory. With the west essentially closed to him, will he explore more beneficial strategic relations? Will he starting looking at Russia, Iran, and even Syria differently? This is possible. I do not in any way defend Erdogan’s domestic and foreign policies.

As things stand, he only brings Turkey closer to civil war and the prospect of a failed state. Turkey should turn its back on NATO and EU membership. Erdogan’s political future is far from certain, but Turkey now has the possibility to re-define its geopolitical posture.

Peter Lavelle is host of RT’s political debate program CrossTalk. His views may or may not reflect those of his employer.