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2/2/18

Turkey: Erdogan: Everybody’s False Friend - by Stephan Richter

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is famous for claiming to pursue a “zero problems” foreign policy in the Middle East. Aiming for zero problems in the Middle East is difficult for anybody to deliver on. After all, the wider neighborhood is fiendishly complex and conflict-ridden.

No wonder that his vision unraveled badly. In the process, Erdogan crossed swords with just about every nation in the region, from Egypt to Syria and Iran to Iraq.

Not to be perturbed by his complete failure to deliver on his promise, Mr. Erdogan – with a penchant for inconsequential grandiosity – next went about creating major tensions with the major nations beyond his immediate neighborhood.

First, he loved Russia, then vowed to despise it. Then, he loved it again. The same goes for the United States. It used to be a big friend, but when – in view of spurious charges – Washington didn’t extradite Fetullah Gülen, he called the United States all sorts of names.

His penchant to act like a very cheap rug merchant has left a sour taste in the mouths of many a leader around the world. One should not try to tackle everything on the basis of a very transparent tit-for-tat deal. As a matter of fact, Erdogan is far more transactional than even Donald Trump will ever be.

A man like Erdogan who, in such a monomaniacal fashion, is so wedded to his own boundless vanity is not anybody who serves his nation well. If anything, Mr. Erdogan has greatly shrunk the amount of respect that Turkey used to receive in the world.

Erdogan evidently believes that he is, quite literally, the mastermind of global affairs and can play off any country against another at his whim.

Unfortunately, he has surrounded himself with such a large number of yes men that he lacks any sense of realism. And none of his courtiers, for fear of being ousted (or worse), have the courage to tell him the plain truth. As a result, Erdogan doesn’t see that “his” Turkey is actually the one being played, not the other way around.

Read more: Erdogan: Everybody’s False Friend - The Globalist

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