Erdogan’s Irredentism Just Can’t Keep Up

As international norms crumble, Turkey’s revisionist policies appear less provocative in comparison.

A torn map of the Mykolaiv region in Ukraine. September 17, 2025, 9:19 AM Comment icon View Comments ( )

Since January, many observers have warned that U.S. President Donald Trump is traveling down the same autocratic path pioneered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Just last week, Trump threatened to replace the elected mayor of Washington, D.C., echoing a favorite tactic of the Erdogan government. The good, if still not very comforting, news for Americans is that while the speed of the breakdown is alarming, the United States still has a ways to go before reaching the point that Turkey is at today.

But while Erdogan

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