Erdogan’s nets in the Balkans

Why are the Turkish president's efforts to spread his influence among Muslim populations falling on deaf ears?

In a recent speech in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan donned the mantle of leader of the Muslim world and spoke of the "geography of his heart," with crowds of Islamists responding with the slogan "Here is the general, here is his army." But these are not sentiments that the "general' seems to be able to export outside Turkey.

In AD 1521, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, having just conquered Belgrade, declared with greatness that he would go as far as "where the last Christian bell tolls." His dream was wrecked on the Danube; before the walls of Vienna his armies were crushed by those of the Christian allies and he was forced, humiliated, to retreat to the lands of what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Five hundred and some years later, another Turk, this...