What is behind Erdogan’s coronavirus diplomacy?

Source:Financial Times Date:01May2020

“Turkish national identity has been shaped around the desire to get respect from the west,” she said. “This idea that Turkey’s healthcare sector is better prepared, its manufacturing sector is better prepared — that’s a message that has a lot of appeal domestically.”

Already there are some signs it may have worked at home. A survey by polling group Metropoll in early April showed a surge in Mr Erdogan’s approval ratings.

But Can Selcuki, head of the polling firm Istanbul Economics Research, warned of risks ahead.

While images of Turkish aid shipments had stoked national pride and the health system had done “pretty well” so far, the bigger challenge for Mr Erdogan’s government would be the economic fallout in the months ahead, he said. “That will be the real performance indicator once the euphoria over this subsides.”