On Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan kicked off a busy month in New Delhi, India. Over the next few weeks, he will meet the leaders of Russia, Kuwait, China, the United States and NATO as part of a new economic and foreign policy offensive.
Having won another victory in last month's constitutional referendum, the Turkish president wants to use political stability to spur economic growth. He also wants to overcome the sticking points in foreign policy by engaging in a new round of negotiations. In conjunction with his new priorities, Mr. Erdoğan could adopt a new agenda at home. His return to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) could mark the beginning of a new era, in which the ruling party's platform and leadership could be updated after 15 years in power and ahead of the 2019 presidential election.
With the hard-fought referendum campaign behind us, foreign officials seem intent on reducing tensions with Turkey. Recent calls by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini urging everyone to respect the referendum results and sympathize with Turkey's national security concerns could be seen as a sign of renewed interest in the country. To be clear, this is a good time for the Turks to reflect on their 54-year-old EU membership bid. Before any concrete steps are taken, however, Brussels could revisit its stance on Turkey's war on terror to ease tensions. Meanwhile, the Turkish president's upcoming meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump will focus on the war on Daesh in Syria, the future of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and efforts to contain Iran. The two leaders will discuss at length operational details that Turkish and U.S. officials had been negotiating for some time.
Turkey and India both supported a reform of the United Nations system, he posited. While stressing that the U.N. Security Council failed to represent countries like India and Japan, along with the 1.7 billion Muslims around the world, Mr. Erdoğan noted that it was important for him to be appreciated by oppressed peoples around the world. He not only noted that Western nations exploited democracy and human rights for their own gain but also urged the Indian leadership to work with Turkey for "a fair and sustainable world" on the basis of mutual benefit.