The Europeans had illusions in Erdogan long enough, Schröder even honored him as “European of the Year” and wanted to make him a member of the EU as the USA wanted. In fact, Muslimbrother Erdogan never wanted to get into the EU, but wanted by means of rapprochement achieve two goals: investment in Turkey in order to get neoliberals and other sections of the population as his electoral base as an economically successful leader and, secondly, to disempower the military what the United States, NATO and EU were paradoxically supporting because of alleged democratization. Once Erdogan had the mass base and the disabled military, Erdogan could go on the offensive with the Ergenekon trials and the first reprisals against the democratic opposition. Since a diligent coup of young officers against him also failed, he no longer has any limits, but instead put hundreds of thousands in jail, streamlines the media and the judiciary, eliminates the competing and Islamist Gülen movement, tries to create a new religious generation by changing the educational system and its contents and wants to now found his neo-Ottoman Empire.

The invasion of Syria, the establishment of a military base in Sudan and the sending of Turkish troops to Libya are examples of this besides his support for the Muslim Brotherhood together with Qatar and Al Jazeera. The EU made the mistake of engaging in these blackmail games and also signed a refugee deal with him instead of taking responsibility for the self-protection of her external borders. Erdogan Turkey had good relations with Assad-Syria under Davotoglu’s zero problem policy, and the Syrian and Turkish military even had joint maneuvers. With the Arab Spring, the Muslim Brotherhood saw their chance and armed themselves, and Erdogan saw the opportunity to bring the Muslim Brothers in power, who are ideologically closer to him as Islamists, by this advance his Neo-Ottoman Empire. While the Free Syrian Army was initially a secular-democratic organization, it made an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood and today the secular-democratic forces are marginalized, as is the secular-democratic Southern Front operating from Jordan. Islamists of all shades have now long been in charge of the uprising against Assad, be it the Muslim Brothers, Ahrar Al-Sham, Yaesh el Islam, Yaesh el Fatah, the Islamic State or the Al Nusra Front, which is close to Al Qaeda, to name just the most important, Erdogan, with his Islamist murderers, caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of injuries and refugees.

He boasts that he takes in 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey and says he is generous, although all these people were victims of his Neo-Ottoman imperialism, who armed and supported these Islamist homicide militias against Assad and left the country in ruins. At the same time, he knew how to blackmail the EU and use the refugees as a potential threat against the EU and Germany, which had their first shock in the refugee summer of 2015. For him, the refugees are only maneuvering mass and pinball for his geopolitical games, for his dream of the Neo-Ottoman Empire. If Russia had not saved Assad, then the Islamic State, the Muslim Brothers with Erdogan’s support or another Islamist party would now rule the formerly secular Syria.

Meanwhile, the western have assessment that Assad and Russia are the victorious powers, but to come to real political conclusions still seems difficult to western politicians. Now with the final struggle for Idlib and the new wave of refugees, Erdogan now threatens to send the EU these refugees to Europe. He is blackmailing the EU and now NATO on his side to act against Assad and Russia or to open the refugee gates, which could mean the second shock for the EU next to the Corona virus crisis . Ultimately, he wants to give the West a choice: NATO should support his neo-Ottoman expansion plans and fight Assad and Russia in Syria, or he will destabilize the EU with a new wave of refugees, especially since his 40,000 Islamist jihadists in Idlib will also come to Europe. If there is a NATO case or for an EU military mission, it is now and then the following.

In addition to securing the eastern border against Russia, NATO or the European military must close the border between Turkey and Greece and in the Mediterranean, no longer waiting for FRONTEX to protect the EU’s external borders in the distant future. even if there are bad pictures and NGOS like Pro Asylum screeches. No more false humanitarism. The EU is proving now or never whether it can protect its borders. Once the borders are safe, the blackmail spit turns and the West can now drown Erdogan in refugee flows. The EU and Russia should jointly politically isolate and economically strangle Turkey: no oil, no gas, no food, no tourists, no more access to the EU market. The Turkish military must be withdrawn immediately from Syria, Lybia and Sudan; Syria for the Syrians: Stop neo-Ottoman imperialism.

The question is whether Merkel or the EU will jump over its human rights shadow and, in real politics, will work with Putin to restore Syria’s sovereignty and end the war by ending Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman dreams. Even if some fear that after such a deal Putin could once again join forces with Erdogan and that Turkey could then expand to the north on the southern flank against NATO, since the path for the neo-Ottoman Empire is blocked by Syria and Putin with Erdogan then taking hold of NATO from the east, NATO would be at the forefront on both fronts, just as it is also possible that there would be a rapprochement between the West and Russia or that Erdogan might be overthrown. Merkel and the EU must now act decisively, otherwise, the German and European population may also choose AfD, right-wing radicals and against the EU. It is a question of fate: if you cannot reliably protect the EU’s external borders, you will lose your right to exist.