It is only natural that Recep Tayyib Erdogan will reap the bitter harvest of his rash policies that have reduced his popularity to such an extent that his party (Justice and Development) lost the Istanbul mayoralty elections. It was the Istanbul city council that elevated Erdogan to the premiership and then to the presidency. This electoral loss has resulted in a division of his closest allies in the party especially the former president Abdullah Gul, the ex-prime minister Ahmed Dawood Oglu and the former deputy prime minister Ali Babacan. Erdogan and his Muslim Brotherhood media have launched a massive campaign against the Saudi leadership for the death of our colleague Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As a result of these attacks, the number of Saudi tourists to Turkey this year has dropped by about 30 percent, according to the Turkish Ministry of Tourism. Erdogan in one of his narcissist revelations has come to believe that his country is a superpower. Under this illusion, he began to clash with the administration of US President Donald Trump. This happened only few months after he had overcome the crisis of imprisoning an American pastor whom at the end of the day he had to release after America imposed economic sanctions against his government. He further complicated matters by insisting to buy Russian S-400 missiles, even though Washington clearly told him that this was against his country's membership in NATO. America also told him that it had made him a partner in the manufacturing of the F-35 which NATO was planning to make its major fighter aircraft. It would not be a surprise if America imposed sanctions on Turkey for this very reason under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA. These sanctions might include preventing Turkey from using the US financial system. Before his differences with the White House were settled, Erdogan lost no time in creating a problem with the EU with his decision to send oil exploration companies to search for oil and natural gas off the coast of Cyprus. Europe quickly assembled its foreign ministers to announce sanctions against Turkey which will prevent it from benefiting from EU money. Erdogan's weapons of self-destruction are harmful both externally and internally. He ordered the governor of the Central Bank to reduce the interest rate. The governor refused to acquiesce because of the country's high rate of inflation, so Erdogan fired him. As a result of this rash decision, the Turkish lira tumbled even urther. Fitch took a decision to downgrade Turkey's sovereign debt and warned that the stability of the country's economy was in jeopardy. This was only a natural result of Erdogan's rash policies. Erdogan has never learnt from his continued failures and mistakes. He was greatly disappointed to see the failure of his dream of restoring Turkey's past glories and of taking the country back to the time of the Ottoman Empire by mixing Islam and secularism. I have previously written that it is difficult to know what the aims and objectives of Erdogan's policies really are. He was with America and at the same time against it. He respects the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques but at the same time is against his Crown Prince. I have also said that Erdogan is attempting to occupy the northern parts of Syria at the same time that he has continuous contacts with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. In the media, Erdogan is against Daesh and Al-Qaeda but in actual fact has done nothing against either of them. He has not done much to support the international alliance against Daesh. He is using the Muslim Brothers in his country as a weapon to achieve his goals. He provided their leaders with a safe haven and gave them licenses to establish TV satellite channels to transmit their hate and venom. Erdogan is betting on the destructive project of the Muslim Brothers to destabilize the Arab region and help him extend his hegemony and mandate over Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Egypt. His polices and bad intentions have been uncovered. His slogans have become obsolete. — The author is a Saudi writer. Follow him on Twitter: @JameelAlTheyabi
