A Game of Thrones

Turkish President Erdogan has taken note of Iran's expansionist activities across the region, according to a Reuters story on Yahoo News. He is quoted as saying:

Iran is trying to dominate the region. Could this be allowed? This has begun annoying us, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. This is really not tolerable and Iran has to see this.

Iran has to change its view. It has to withdraw any forces, whatever it has in Yemen, as well as Syria and Iraq and respect their territorial integrity

Erdogan fears Obama intends Iran to be the region's policeman, as Friedman noted yesterday in an NYT column we cited. It didn't take Erdogan long to react.

If Iran reconstitutes its former Persian empire, Turkey cannot reconstitute its former Ottoman empire. And a new-and-improved Ottoman empire is Erdogan's presumed long-term goal.