Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a complex figure, charismatic, ambitious, and “in short, a natural politician.” If we weren’t generally aware of that fact, a series of confidential cables released by Wikileaks makes it abundantly clear – and Erdogan is not only livid, but is looking to use the controversy to his political, and legal, advantage.

In a televised address, even as he attempted to dismiss the confidential cables as “gossip,” Erdogan threatened to sue United States diplomats over comments made as far back as 2004 for “slander” and warned the Turkish media that it would be ‘immoral’ to write about the subject without first asking him. Assuming that Erdogan’s threats are more than mere bluster, and considering his history of filing defamation suits against Turkish media, his threats to sue distinctly sound like lawfare in the making.

First, Erdogan has been steadily eroding and manipulating Turkey’s freedom of expression laws since he’s been in power, and his statements display a clear intent to censor free and open debate on topics of public interest. As reported by Hürriyet Daily News, Erdogan took the opportunity to lash out against the media:

“An honorable media [outlet] or media member should first ask the person these slanders are made against [about the claims],” he said. “If the subject is the prime minister, you should ask: ‘Esteemed prime minister, is this true?’ If the prime minister tells you, ‘No, I have nothing to do with it,’ then you should not write about it. But if you write it without asking, without investigating [the validity of the claim], with the purpose of defaming, that is immorality, worthlessness.”

That scarcely sounds like encouragement of a free and open press. Freedom House’s 2010 report on freedom of the press in Turkey opened by stating that “The government, led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), continued to crack down on unfavorable press coverage in 2009.” This was highlighted by massive fines against Turkish media conglomerate the Dogan Group for alleged ‘tax evasion’ after the Group “reported on the ruling party’s shortcomings and involvement in an Islamic charity scandal in 2008, and the tax case was widely viewed as politicized.”

Yet, Erdogan is not just trying to restrain the Turkish press; he’s also trying to manipulate the U.S. to censure its diplomatic corps for doing its job in terms and reporting on developments in Turkey.

It gets better. The Wall Street Journal reported that, “A senior aide to Mr. Erdogan clarified that lawyers from the justice ministry were examining the feasibility of suing [U.S. officials] under international, U.S. and Turkish law.”

Unfortunately for Erdogan, the protections enshrined in United States Constitution mean that there’s simply no chance that could succeed in a U.S. court no matter what he claims, either simply because the writers of the cables had immunity or because the cables themselves were never intended to be conveyed to third parties and it was not foreseeable that they’d be published. And that’s without getting into the higher burden of proof that a public official like Erdogan would have to meet.

Accordingly, his real threats to sue U.S. diplomats would be in Turkish or unspecified ‘international’ courts. If he follows through on his threats and sues Turkish media, (which seems likely, given his track record) and former U.S. diplomats (foolish, but possible) would it constitute lawfare?

Lawfare denotes “the use of the law as a weapon of war” or, more specifically, the abuse of the law and judicial systems to achieve strategic military or political ends, to accomplish purposes other than, or contrary to, those for which they were originally enacted.

Is there a law or judicial process at issue? Check. Ulterior motive? Yes, since Erdogan is turning this into a political attack on Turkish media and opposition forces as well as the US diplomatic corps, all the while enlisting the Turkish Justice Minister’s assistance. And abusing legal process for purposes other than those for which it was enacted? It depends on the jurisdiction in which he files, but regardless, he would be looking to achieve a political victory through ‘legal’ means.

It certainly appears that lawfare is brewing.