I have mentioned elsewhere that I think that Reg sees himself as a future Sultan of a new Ottaman empire, and that much of his - to which read AKP - foreign policy is formulated to achieve that end. So this article from yesterday's Guardian is worth a read as it too comes pretty much to that conclusion too. It sets Reg and modern Turkey in an excellent historical context, and the author Norman Stone, is no swivel eyed lefty either.....unlike perhaps UBT
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/06/erdogan-turkey-russia-syria-foreign-policy