By John SolomouNicosia (Cyprus), 02 November (ANI): In recent years, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has turned his country’s policies from “zero problems with neighbors” and from a model of Muslim democracy and ally to a country with almost zero friends and allies. , while Ankara is currently locked in several conflicts and is involved in the destabilization of several countries in the Middle East, North Africa and now the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
All this is happening at a time when the Turkish currency has broken the psychological barrier between eight Turkish lira and the US dollar and the Turkish economy is heading for a repeat of the catastrophic financial crisis of 2001.
Ten years ago, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu declared a policy of “zero problems with neighbors” and US President Barack Obama said Turkey was a model for Muslim democracy.
All this began to change in 2015 when the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) lost its parliamentary majority and Erdogan formed an alliance with the far-right nationalist MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) and neo-nationalists on the left, who supported a militaristic foreign policy. and dependent on hard power.
Gonul Tol, head of the Center for Turkish Studies at the Middle East Institute, said: “The new foreign policy doctrine sees Turkey as a country surrounded by hostile actors and abandoned by its Western allies. It therefore calls on Turkey to pursue a proactive foreign policy based on the use of military power outside its borders. “So far, Ankara has carried out three military invasions in Syria, reportedly to stop Kurdish militias operating near its borders, occupying large parts of the northern part of the country and carrying out bombings of Kurdish communities in Iraq.
It became involved in the civil war in Libya, sending proxy mercenaries and arms supplies to the government by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and signed an agreement with it drawing up maritime borders in the eastern Mediterranean in favor of Ankara. and strictly restrict the rights of Greece and Cyprus.
It has sent drilling vessels in the Aegean Sea, escorted by warships, which violate the law of the sea and Cyprus’ rights to its exclusive economic zone. Tensions between Greece and Turkey, two probably NATO allies, are escalating every week and no one can rule out the possibility of an accident that would lead to war.
In July last year, when fighting broke out between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, (an area inhabited by ethnic Armenians), Turkey promised to provide “unconditional support” to Azerbaijan. It has sold many weapons to the oil- and gas-rich country, including Turkish-made Bayraktar drones – manufactured by Erdogan’s son-in-law – and sent many Syrian mercenaries to fight alongside Azerbaijani forces. While Russia called on the warring parties to exercise restraint, Erdogan expressed support for Baku, saying that Azerbaijan and Turkey are “a nation of two states.” Undoubtedly, Turkey is a strategically important country with a strong army, but there is no country she can ask for real support, other than Qatar, which can only give it money. Erdogan has angered the Western world by seeking closer ties with Moscow and is likely facing US sanctions for the purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly has good relations with Erdogan, the fact remains that in a number of conflicts, and especially in Syria, Libya and now Nagorno-Karabakh, they are on opposite sides.
Some observers see the Russian air strike on Faylaq Al-Asham’s rebel training camp in the Syrian province of Idlib on October 26 as Moscow’s “warning shot” to Turkey over its support for groups that Moscow considers extremist. OrwaAjjoub, an affiliated researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University in Sweden, has said that the air strike on the Turkish-backed rebels should be seen as part of a broader conflict between the two nations.
“Turkey’s involvement in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh and the escalation of the war with a possible occupation of the city of Stepanakert would probably violate Russia’s red line and Moscow may feel compelled to activate its defense pact with Armenia.” Erdogan’s arrogant attitude managed to insult almost everyone in Europe and the United States. He called the current leaders in Europe “links in the Nazi chain”, said he would give US President Donald Trump “a deadly Ottoman slap”, insisted that some Aegean islands should belong to Turkey and not to Greece, often attacking Israel as pretend to be Palestinian defenders and threaten to flood Europe with refugees.
His latest conflict is with French President Emanuel Macron, who after the beheading of a French schoolteacher promised to fight what he described as “Islamist separatism” in France. Erdogan called for a boycott of French products, saying “Macron needs mental treatment.” France recalled its ambassador to Turkey, while a French presidential official said: “We demand that Erdogan change his policy because it is dangerous in all respects.” David Romano, a professor of Middle East policy at Missouri State University, said: “In a short time, Turkey may be very exaggerated and isolated. Sometime after that, the Turkish public will either blame Erdogan for what happened or Turkey will see itself becoming a much weaker pariah state, or both. “(ANI)