The two faces of Erdogan

The two faces of Erdogan

Dr. Jassim Taqui

If you have followed the politics of the Turkish President Tayyib Erdogan, you would be shocked by its contradiction and controversy.

To start with, Erdogan swore to everyone that he would never compromise the secular polity of  the founding father of modern Turkey Ataturk.

Later, however, he turned to be the biggest supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Tracing the history of MB, you find that its basic goal from its very inception was to overthrow the secular regimes in the Middle East and to impose a Taliban-like regimes in their place.

Erdogan  declared his famous zero-differences with his neighbors, but he secretly was interfering into the internal affairs of Iraq, Syria and Iran.

Perhaps  his biggest deception was the initiation of the civil war in Syria by secretly supporting ISIS ; claiming that CIA was behind this terrorist outfit. Everyone was deceived by his plan including NATO.

When the Russian President Vladimir Putin provided documentary evidences of his clandestine support of ISIS, he shot the Russian fighter, which was bombing the facilities of ISIS in Syria. His game was to force NATO to be dragged into the Syrian civil war. However, the NATO, the United States and the EU quickly realized his deception and pressed for a peaceful solution of the Syrian civil war.

When Erdogan’s policy of supporting ISIS backfired domestically, regionally and internationally, he was compelled to mend his relations with Israel.

Erdogan was desperate to show himself as supporter of the Palestinian people. He requested the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to permit him to send humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian in Gaza. But when the Turkish truck entered the Gaza Strip, it was not carrying food and medicines but toys and diapers. (Times of Israel,4^th July, 2016).

As matters stand, Erdogan’s dream of reviving the Ottoman Empire vanished. Now, the international community is united in fighting ISIS, which lost Fallujah and is cornered in Mosul as well. Suddenly, the  would be Erdogan’s Empire is no more. It is merely confined to his Presidential Palace, which cost the exchequer an enormous amount of $650 million.