Ankara is trying to exact revenge on Armenians - Times of India

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan back in June 2018 declared that his next goal would be to make Turkey a "top ten world power" and spoke about his country's increa

As part of Erdogan's ambitions to turn his country into a supower, Turkey is actively involved in conflicts with Syria a nd Libya, tries to extend its influence into the Aegean Sea, is illegally drilling in Cyprus' gas exploration blocks, accuses the UAE of betraying the Palestinians, and now backs Azerbaijan in its war with Armenia.

But the question is whether all these moves strengthen Erdogan's grandiose ambitions or actually undermine them and whether his dream of Turkey acquiring a superpower status is crumbling?

It should be mentioned that Turkey has established military bases in Qatar and Somalia, and according to several reports, it makes efforts to establish a base in the Sudanese island of Suakin by the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa, where Ankara, together with Qatar, complete for influence against the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Erdogan's actions instead of gaining him friends have alienated many of its strongest supporters. Ankara has angered the West by trying to establish close relations with Russia and even risks US sanctions with its purchase of the S400 missile defence system. But both in Syria and in Libya and now in Nagorno- Karabakh, Turkey and Russia support different sides in the respective wars. Ankara's policies have alienated it from all its former friends and currently, the only country which can be considered to be its ally in Qatar.

Undoubtedly, the Turkish economy is now in serious trouble -- indicative of this is the fact that according to media reports the Turkish Lira has lost 22 per cent of its value since the beginning of the year. But instead of trying to find ways of improving the economy, Erdogan is trying to distract the public from Turkey's economic woes to "national struggles" abroad, that is, defending Turkic people in other countries.

In recent months the number COVID-19 cases in the country have been rising steadily, while the head of the Turkish Medical Association in Ankara a few weeks ago accused the government of hiding the real numbers of COVID-19 cases and related deaths, while doctors warned that hospitals are running out of beds as infections surge.

It is noted that due to the pandemic a key sector of the Turkish economy, that of tourism lost about one-fourth of its custom this summer. Even the major gas discovery in the Black Sea, which is preliminarily estimated at 11.3 trillion cubic feet, cannot save Turkey's woeful economic outlook, as its development will take more than five years and an enormous investment to be made before gas becomes commercially viable.

Furthermore, foreign investors who previously accounted for about 40 per cent of the bond and equity market, now account for only 5 per cent, following the downgrading by the Moody's rating agency of Turkish bonds to "junk" status.

Another strong blow on the Turkish economy is the Saudi embargo on Turkish products imposed as from October 3, which accounts to some USD 3.3 billion a year.

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