THE COMING OF A GREATER TURKEY. (Old ottoman)

A former lawmaker from Turkey’s ruling AK Party has released a map of “Greater Turkey” that goes back to the era of the Seljuq Empire and its defeat of the Byzantine Empire in the 1071 Battle of Manzikert.

Metin Külünk, who is close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, released the map on the anniversary of the battle that falls on August 26, amid tension between Turkey and Greece over a dispute on oil and gas exploration in the east Mediterranean.

The map shows what he called “Greater Turkey” that includes vast territories spanning from northern Greece to the east Aegean islands, half of Bulgaria, Cyprus, most of Armenia and large swaths of Georgia, Iraq and Syria.

His move sparked huge controversy at a time when Turkey has intervened in northern Syria, northern Iraq, in addition to Libya, and is involved in a dispute with Greece and Cyprus.

Turkey has recently witnessed discussions on what is called the “blue homeland,” a plan repeatedly mentioned by Defense Minister Hulusi Akar to impose Turkish control on the seas on its shores (the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea).

Turkey’s presence in northern Iraq and its repeated operations there against Kurdish fighters have angered the government in Baghdad. Ankara’s presence in northeastern Syria, under the excuse of guaranteeing the safety of its border from Syria’s Kurds, has also put it at loggerheads with the US