EU-Turkey, a clash of eras

On Thursday, a few hours before the leaders of European Union member-states were to discuss the bloc's relations with Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended a military parade in Baku, celebrating Azerbaijan's triumph over Armenian forces (with Turkish assistance).

The European leaders may be divided over whether they should impose sanctions against Turkey for its belligerence against some of its members, but Erdogan does not display similar sensitivities: In Thursday's celebrations, he hailed the name of Enver Pasha, the Ottoman war minister who played a significant role in the Armenian genocide, as well as his brother, who commanded the Islamic Army of the Caucasus, which occupied Baku in 1918.

The fact that Thursday was the United Nations International Human Rights Day would not have seemed ironic to Erdogan - he usually presents aggression as defense of the rights...