Dana Nawzar

3- I believe there is a part in our brain which is responsible for stimulating desire for crappy Middle East analysis. That craving can be killed by reading DC/London based outlets who pass judgements on Middle East 1900s style. Well, one good step would be stopping this.

2- This is a part of a bigger problem of 'how' knowledge about different area studies is produced. And the solution is not there. Part of the solution is being mindful of the fact that the knowledge we have about a country/leader/topic needs to be questioned.

1- The field of Middle Eastern studies is caught up between local experts, insiders if you like, who are too biased to maintain a minimum of objectivity and foreign experts who are either not experts or experts with an Orientalist mindset still not decolonised.

13- One of my favourite poems of Mehmet Akif "Zulmü alkışlayamam - I can't applaud injustice" can be said to have been Erdogan's foreign policy since 2008, after 10 years, he has learnt it the hard way that it is not possible. That is now how international relations work.

12- For Erdogan & his supporters to have a better chance of success, they do need to suppress those traits of being emotional and oral.vNew opening to EU, bringing China in,keeping Russia close and amending ties with Iran are all moves to survive a dumb but powerful Orange Bully.

11- Erdogan lives with ideals. He is waiting for a moment when he can be fully independent. That desire for independence will either bring his end or if succeeded will actually change the dynamics of Middle East.

10- Erdogan won't put all his eggs in anyone's basket. Yes, his emotions & beliefs have at times caused him not to be pragmatic such as his take on Syria when he could simply stay neutral & save himself lots of headache, but he is pragmatist enough to make U-turns anytime needed.

9- What Erdogan has faced in the last 5 years both domestically, regionally and internationally might not have been faced by any other leader since the second world war. The fact that he has survived means a lot about his abilities to play on different strings.

8- Erdogan has had to change its allies and friends both domestically and externally almost periodically. The secret to Erdogan's survival has been playing on the rivalries between the others. For example, a Putin-Trump alliance means end Erdogan the Conquerer.

7- A strong Turkey with ambitions to exert influence outside is an adversary to almost all regional & international powers by definition. Right now, no regional or international power wants a powerful Sunni country led by someone with pan-Islamist ambitions, no one. Full stop.

6- Since then Turkey has been in a dilemma: Whether to stay home, play it safe, be the guy everyone loves but without much say in what happens around or try to retain some of its old powers and antagonise everyone.

5- Erdogan was popular, loved & cheered outside when he was the good reformist Turkish leader without much a say in Middle East and world politics. Everything changed when he dared to ask for 'one minute' on the global stage.

4- The rise of Erdogan changed all of that. A man influenced by Necip Fazil and many more pan-Islamist neo-Ottomon ideas was not going to settle for the role Turkey had when he assumed office.

3- A nation that had ruled parts of three continents for centuries was reduced into a tourism hub and low skilled workers for Europe. Except for the Cyprus crisis, Turkey's will, power and diplomacy was never tested.

2- From the fall of the Ottomans to the rise of Erdogan, Ataturk's 'Yurtta Sulh cihan'da sulh' was basically the main mantra which basically meant a Turkey without any roles. From 1924 to 2004, all Turkey's challenges were domestic.

1- Turks, like Kurds and Arabs, are an emotional nation. They are also, to use Professor Ilber Ortayli's words, 'an oral nation'. These aren't very good traits when it comes to politics and diplomacy.

The attack on Jeremy Corbyn using a mixture of facts and fiction from his past is at a time that the far right in the UK has never been stronger. Those who want him out are the same who want their racist friends in. Corbyn needs to put forward a stronger leadership & fight back.