Trust No More: ‘Turkey Is Turning Into an Unpredictable Country’

At least 11 people died and 36 were injured when a car bomb went off targeting a police vehicle in downtown Istanbul on Tuesday morning. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the attack on members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.

Radio Sputnik asked Turkish political analyst and security expert Ahmet Kadir Han to comment on the situation.

“Turkey is quickly turning into an unpredictable country due to its inconsistent and sometimes controversial domestic and foreign policy which make it hard to understand the government’s position on key issues,” Ahmet Kadir Han said.

He added that this inconsistency was creating an image of a country that is a constant source of instability, a country you can’t trust.

This atmosphere of tension and distrust is pushing the Turkish leadership to even more dangerous posturing.

“Our present leaders have been losing their sense of reality as they keep pushing ahead with their populist foreign policy. This is taking place against the backcloth of such serious developments as the creation of a new constitution and a transition to a presidential republic, which complicates the process of long-term decision-making,” Ahmet Kadir Han noted.

“As for the negative impact the Kurdish factor is having on domestic security, the recent spate of terrorist attacks and yesterday’s explosion in Istanbul, offer a graphic example of  this. Unfortunately the PKK lacks the military muscle to wage an open war against Turkey, so it has to stick to guerrilla warfare and terrorist attacks,” Ahmet Kadir Han said in conclusion.