Turkey, the Rohingya crisis and Erdoğan’s ambitions to be a global Muslim leader

The strongest and most vocal response of all to the humanitarian crisis facing the Rohingya ethnic group in Myanmar in August-September 2017 has come from Turkey. Indeed the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, appears to have appointed himself as the international voice of the Rohingya Muslims.

He sees Turkey at the core of geopolitical issues between the West and the rest of Asia, justifying this global engagement by its political heritage – mainly based on its Central Asian and Ottoman history.

Erdogan's calls to protect Muslims worldwide could be a key moment for Turkey’s diplomatic leadership but whether other Muslim countries would follow or not will tell the limits of Turkey’s so-called 'humanitarian politics'.

ESO In Focus, September 2017: Rohingya crisis - Developments in Rakhine State, Myanmar and the border region in Bangladesh, August-September 2017 http://www.europeansources.info/record/rohingya-crisis-developments-in-rakhine-state-myanmar-and-the-border-region-in-bangladesh-august-september-2017/

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