Jan 27, 2025
In his latest tirade, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan redefined the borders of his country that include “the city of Thessaloniki,” the second largest in Greece.
During a speech from the northwestern city of Eskişehir he said “If one border of Eskişehir is Thessaloniki, the other border is Crimea!”
The Turkish president, who has never concealed his neo-Ottoman fantasies, spoke from Eskişehir, a strategically significant city in the Anatolian heartland. He reiterated, once again, that the borders of his country extend beyond its geographical limits.
“Eskişehir does not only border its neighboring provinces. If one border of Eskişehir is Thessaloniki, the other border is Crimea. If one border is Samarkand, the other border is northern Cyprus,”* Erdogan declared, according to state news agency Anadolu, during a provincial congress of his party.
He also emphasized “we are focused on the ideal of a great and powerful Turkey. We have thoroughly analyzed the picture that emerged from the March 31 elections. We are shaping our roadmap accordingly.”
Members of the ruling AKP party from various regions of Eskişehir attended the conference, which took place at the city’s Polytechnic indoor sports center.
Since 2018 Turkish foreign policy has consistently advanced an irredentist strategic position that raises territorial disputes with neighboring counties including Greece in the Aegean Sea.
PS Is Erdogan inspired by US counterpart Donald Trump? No. It’s his dream of neo-Ottoman imperialism he calls “Blue Homeland” aiming to revive the borders of the Ottoman empire (1299-1922).
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