WHEN Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits a European city, it stays visited. Parts of Brussels ground to a halt this week when Turkey’s president dropped in for a two-day state trip. Roads were closed, barricades erected and dozens of armed police deployed to ensure a smooth path for the sultan. His wife was given the run of a luxury-goods shop while traffic was blocked outside. When thwarted, Mr Erdogan improvised: blocked by Brussels’ mean-minded mayor from using an 18,000-seat stadium for a rally, he repaired to an open-top double-decker bus to address thousands of adoring fans outside his hotel. Vladimir Putin had nothing on this the last time he came to town, says an amused official.
Officially, Mr Erdogan was in Belgium to open an art exhibition celebrating Turkey’s cultural heritage. The theme dovetails with his desire to portray himself as the heir to Turkey’s Ottoman glories rather than its more recent secular rulers. But with over 400,000 migrants having left Turkey’s shores for Europe this year, the European Union’s leaders were keen to have a word, too. That presented the president with a second chance to shine.
At a press...Continue reading
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