Whatever one makes of his aims or tactics, there’s no doubt Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a formidable political operator.
Over 20 years in power, he’s pioneered a populist economic strategy known as Erdonomics, harnessed moderate Islam as a potent political force, and positioned Turkey as a regional and global power, all the while holding on to a strong base of domestic support.
On Saturday, the Turkish leader added another accomplishment to his résumé, arguably one no less impressive: getting Pope Francis to do something he obviously didn’t want to do – in this case, to speak out, at long last, on the controversy over the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics eight days before.
Given how notoriously stubborn the Argentine pontiff can become when he feels painted into a corner, the fact that Erdoğan succeeded where others had failed, including members of the Pope’s own hierarchy, has to be seen as fairly impressive.
Late Saturday evening in Rome, the Vatican Press Office released a statement in French saying the Holy See had been “saddened” by the July 26 ceremony, and indicating it wished to join “voices that have been raised in recent days to deplore the offense given to many Christians and believers of other religions”.
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