Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, who has sought
leadership of the Sunni world, has been battling cancer.

Western diplomats said Erdogan has undergone treatment for intestinal
cancer for nearly a year. They said the prime minister underwent two operations and
signaled to his aides that he might not have long to live.

“He feels it’s the end,” a diplomatic source with access to Erdogan
said.

The source said the 58-year-old Erdogan has not responded well to cancer treatment. Erdogan, who underwent two operations in four months, was said to travel with a medical team and a helicopter.

Erdogan has denied any cancer diagnosis. He said surgeons did not find any traces of the disease.

“Allah is the owner of our soul,” Erdogan said in an address to his
ruling Justice and Development Party on March 7. “It is Allah and only Allah who will decide how long I will live.”

Turkey has been buzzing with rumors over Erdogan’s health in wake of e-mails released by WikiLeaks in late February. The December 2011 e-mails,
said to have come from the U.S. intelligence consultancy Stratfor, asserted
that Erdogan underwent extensive colon surgery on Nov. 26, 2011.

“The prognosis is not looking good, though,” the Stratfor e-mail, which
quoted a friend of the lead surgeon, said. “The surgeon said they were
estimating two years for him.”

Stratfor, which has reported the theft of its e-mails but said some of
them had been altered, was told that Erdogan’s illness would divide his
Islamic party. A Dec. 10 e-mail said President Abdullah Gul lacked sufficient
support and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was regarded as paranoid.
Over the last week, Erdogan met CIA director David Petraeus and Hamas
chief Khaled Masha’al. A photograph of the Masha’al meeting on March 16
showed Erdogan slumped in his chair.

Officials said Erdogan, prime minister since 2003, was preparing to
resume his official duties. They said he would visit South Korea on March
27, and two days later would arrive in Iran. On March 17, however, Erdogan
canceled a trip to Germany to receive an award.

Western diplomats said Erdogan was acting with a sense of urgency
that he might not be able to work for more than another few months. They
said the prime minister was acting as one of them termed “a man on a
mission to complete his agenda.”

  58, Abdullah Gul. Ahmet Davutoglu, Khaled Masha’al, Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, said to have intestinal cancer, Turkey’s Erdogan, two operations in four months