Look at how the crowd reacts to Erdogan’s words that Russia was itself to blame and that everything was done correctly. A lot of people keep writing to me saying they disagree with the idea that Erdogan is happy he shot down a Russian plane.
They say sanctions will hurt him, the Westerners will scold him, and all that.
He couldn’t care less about sanctions or the Westerners when set against this magnificent new opportunity for a patriotic frenzy. What sanctions can anyone even talk about when he’s getting a standing ovation?
He is already demanding expanded powers for himself.
Journalists who wrote about weapons supplies to ISIS have already been arrested, and Erdogan is personally demanding life imprisonment for them.
In that sense, the charming cartoons from 1915 being circulated by the Russian Embassy in Britain do not bother Erdogan in the slightest. He pops champagne every time something like this happens. (1,700 retweets, and I highly recommend reading the replies)
Because this can be answered with things like this:
The local Turkish “Olgino” (a reference to Russia’s notorious troll farm in St. Petersburg) has unleashed its full propaganda power and gone head-to-head with the original Russian “Olgino”.
Everything said so accurately in today’s *Vedomosti* column about Putin
also applies to Erdogan to a great extent. They’re two of a kind. And as for the bankrupt tour operators—who cares about them when big politics is underway, a war of cartoons and statements.