Decades after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan revived his expansionist ambitions, speaking of what he called the "legacy of the forefathers" from Central Asia and the depths of Europe to Suakin of Sudan, saying he would cling to it.
Erdogan has been working for years in many countries in the region to achieve these expansionist ambitions, taking advantage of ideological rapprochement with political Islam groups in those countries.
On the pretext of fighting terrorism, Erdogan has conducted several military operations in Syria and maintains troops in Iraq under the pretext of confronting the PKK. As recently revealed weapons ships sent from Turkey to militants in Libya.
"This is why we cling to the legacy of our ancestors everywhere, from Central Asia and the depths of Europe, to the island of Suakin in Sudan, and that is why we are also keen to defend the cause of Jerusalem," the Turkish president said at a party meeting on Saturday. As he put it.
Erdogan was traveling on Swakin Island, which lies on the west coast of the Red Sea. And pledged to rebuild it during his visit to Sudan in December 2017.
Under the pretext of countering terrorism, Erdogan controlled areas in northern Syria, relying on hardline Syrian opposition factions.
In early January, Turkish Defense Minister Khulosi Akar, accompanied by the Chief of General Staff and Head of the Intelligence Agency, visited Turkish military forces on Syrian territory and sent a message from the tomb of Suleiman the Great, founder of the Ottoman Empire, exposing Turkey's expansionist ambitions.
The Turks are mobilizing their forces at the southern border in preparation for a new military operation in Manbaj, northern Syria, after Washington announced the withdrawal of US troops from there.
Despite the pretext of the war on terror, Turkey was the source of the hardline fighters who flocked to Syria and Iraq to join Zahed and other terrorist groups there.
In these two countries, Erdogan is deploying his forces and expanding his military presence under the pretext of defending the borders of his southern state of the PKK, which Ankara classifies as a terrorist.
Turkish troops are based in northern Iraq, 30 kilometers (30 miles) from the border, under the pretext of targeting PKK militants in their stronghold in Qandil mountains. Turkey is already launching cross-border air strikes in northern Iraq.
Baghdad has often called on Ankara to respect Iraq's sovereignty and not to provoke tension for internal Turkish reasons.
