Erdogan was met in Beirut rather enthusiastically, and was even called “sultan” for ‘his beautiful eyes’. However, the Armenian community met the Turkish Prime Minister in its own way: tore down posters, arranged a protest action which, however, did not affect the overall picture of the visit. Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a bad copy of his father Rafic Hariri, all the time assented to Erdogan, trying to find in him a “defender” in the event of an attack by Israel. In principle, Hariri Jr. got what he wanted: Erdogan promised that “Turkey will not be silently looking at the Israeli aggression”, and, naturally, once again stated that Turkey will not agree to restoration of relations with Israel until the latter apologizes for the “brutal attack” on the ship.

During the visit, the Union of Arab Banks granted Prime Minister Erdoğan with the award “Leader of the Year”. Speaking at the award ceremony, Erdoğan said Turkey wants to establish peace in the Middle East, so that “children should not be dying in this geographical area, and state terrorism should not be dominating”. The Turkish Prime Minister also stressed that those criticizing rapprochement of the people of Turkey and Arab countries, are guided by ill intentions.

It is understandable that Turkey should want to enlist the support of the Arab world, which in the heyday of the Ottoman Empire was the basis of the Ottoman elite, along with the immigrants from the Balkans, Greece and Armenia. But Ankara as always forgets that the Arabs were among the first to stir up a rebellion in order to liberate themselves from the Ottoman oppression. In general, strange is the memory of our neighbors: they remember only what they want and what is beneficial for them. But at the end of the World War I the Ottoman army fought against the Arabs too, and but for the help of the Entente, the Arab tribes in the Middle East would have suffered the fate of the Armenians.

But now Erdogan is trying to revive the empire, and such subtleties are not taken into account. For all her “independence” Turkey does not take into account Israel, i.e. the United States. In fact, Ankara is repeating the mistakes of the last years of the Ottoman Empire, which in words was an ally to Germany, but actually did what she pleased. Everyone remembers how it all ended. But the idea of “neo-Ottomanism” is rather dangerous and quite real. It is a minimum program before the “rush to the Great Turan”, which is much more serious. The thing is not that these ideas are unfeasible, but that they are duplicated by the media and politicians around the world. Will Turkey be able to realize what she has been dreaming of since the date of dethronement of the last sultan, or will it break up into separate provinces? This is the question, and it rests on the Kurdish factor, which in itself is destabilizing. In short, we’ll wait and see. For the time being Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as it is customary to him, calls down the wrath of God on Israel and swears allegiance to the Islamic world. How long he will do it, or rather, how long he will be allowed to do it is, of course, a rhetorical question. Although Ankara assures that “nobody has the right to dictate Turkey how to behave”, in reality these statements reflect the morbid imagination of Erdogan. Be that as it may, weak Turkey is more preferable for Armenia than a strong one, although a weak state is usually more aggressive. A good example of it is Azerbaijan, which following the lead of Turkish policy, has already come out of the control of the same Ankara. But the problem is that both Turkey and Azerbaijan need an elder brother. No one argues that Armenia needs him too, but the difference is that for Turkey this is going to be the beginning of the end.