Civil War May Break Out in Turkey Over Erdogan’s Game With Islamists

SEVASTOPOL (Sputnik) – Turkey faces a growing risk of civil war over a "dangerous game" country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was playing with Islamist groups in Syria, French lawmaker from The Republicans center-right party Jacques Myard, who is currently visiting Crimea, told Sputnik on Saturday.

"The Islamization of Turkey will not succeed. Of course, step by step Erdogan may have more Islamic supporters but at the end, he will face resilience and reluctance within the society. The civil war is coming up to Turkey, partly because Erdogan was playing a very dangerous game with IS [Islamic State] in Syria," Myard said.

The Turkish president is striving to reestablish the Ottoman empire in the Middle East region, he added.

"He is dreaming of the Ottoman Empire but he is wrong. Syria and Egypt don't want to be governed by Ankara," Myard noted.

The European Union is criticizing Turkish internal policy in such areas as democracy and human rights. On Monday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that talks with Turkey on its admission to the European Union would be stopped should Ankara bring back the death penalty, an initiative voiced by Erdogan after a coup attempt.

On July 15, an attempt to overthrow the government took place in Turkey, it was suppressed the following day. Over 240 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured during the failed coup excluding the victims among the plotters, according to the country's authorities.