by WorldTribune Staff, March 16, 2017
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is working against Western interests and pursuing a “neo-Ottoman empire using Muslim Brotherhood ideology,” a former Israeli defense minister said.
Turkey under Erdogan is one of three “radical” elements seeking to expand their influence in the Middle East, along with Iran and jihadists such as the Islamic State (ISIS), Moshe Ya’alon said on March 15 in a meeting with foreign journalists.
Ya’alon said the current unstable situation in the Middle East evolved because of what he called former U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to “disengage” from the region.
“And the vacuum has been filled by these three elements struggling for hegemony in the region,” he said.
Ya’alon, seeking to build a campaign to become Israel’s next prime minister, accused NATO-member Turkey of working against Western interests.
Erdogan is pursuing “hegemony by establishing (a) neo-Ottoman empire using the Muslim Brotherhood ideology, not just within Turkey,” Ya’alon said.
Ya’alon’s comments came as Turkey and the European Union are embroiled in a crisis after EU members the Netherlands and Germany blocked Turkish ministers from holding rallies in support of constitutional changes expanding Erdogan’s powers, Israel’s Arutz Sheva reported.