Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to be at odds with himself over his country's foreign policy. In a speech Nov. 29, Erdogan reiterated Turkey's goal to "end the rule" of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Though his words affirmed Turkey's long-standing opposition to al Assad's administration, they contradicted Erdogan's earlier hints that Ankara might be open to negotiating with Damascus. The turnaround caused consternation in Moscow; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Nov. 30 that Erdogan's statement diverged "from previous ones and from our understanding of the situation," exhorting Ankara to explain its position. The European Union, too, has found itself on the receiving end of Ankara's mixed messages. Turkey's EU minister, Omer Celik, was back in Brussels on Nov. 30 after Erdogan threatened to release a flood of migrants into Europe and to hold a referendum to demonstrate Turkey's rejection of EU membership earlier in the month. During his...
