Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently started to talk about the unity of the Muslim world. Erdogan announced that "the Muslim world is facing a risk of disintegration". "The main thing for us is Islam, not Sunni nor Shiite," - Erdogan told a group of journalists, Hurriyet reports. "You may have a sectarian understanding, but if you impose that on another sect, you cause the disintegration of Muslims. At this time, the Muslim world is facing a risk of disintegration. The steps needed to be taken are to stop those efforts," the Turkish president said.
International organizations and institutions, including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), should act accordingly "if they are sincere," according to Erdogan. He also noticed that he is going to discuss the problem with Muslim leaders and "will have another visit to Saudi Arabia and have an influential process". It should be mentioned that the subject was also on the agenda during his visit to Tehran and his meetings with Iranian leaders.
The Turkish president's statements should be considered on the background of his permanent ambitions to be presented as the leader of the Islamic world. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party which came to power in 2002 actually is based on Islamic views. Erdogan himself has Islamic education and is known for his radical Islamic thinking, that was demonstrated during the "Arab Spring". Turkey was actively involved in the Middle East developments and became No. 1 state supporting regional terrorism.
Perhaps the Turkish government aimed to strengthen its position in the region but now we have a completely different picture: Turkey has worsened its relations with almost all its neighbors.