Erdogan’s Turkey: Champion of Hamas, and an adversary of the West

Press conferences convened by heads of government, are usually carefully planned and choreographed occasions. Typically, prior to taking the podium, each leader's staff usually finesse their agreed-upon statements and decide whether to field questions from the gathered press pool. In a perfect world, this should not be a forum where surprises are sprung upon one leader by the other.

This was not the case at a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 13. It is a well-established fact that Turkey and Greece disagree on many foreign policy issues, ranging from maritime border and airspace disputes, all the way to how to settle the Cyprus dispute. While these issues are difficult to resolve, summits between Greek and Turkish leaders have not been occasions where these differences act out. Leaders are usually...