Although the ongoing street protests in Turkey cannot and should not be considered as being the same as the developments in some Arab countries rocked by popular uprisings, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan provided a most-unexpected comparison on Monday.

Just like Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who initially blamed foreign intelligence services as being behind the protests in Syria, Erdogan, too, accused foreign agents of supporting the ongoing protests asking for his resignation.

“Our intelligence work is ongoing [to determine the foreign actors behind the protests],” Erdogan said before departing for Morocco on Monday. “It’s not possible to reveal their names. But we will have meetings with their bosses.”

This suggests once again that Erdogan does not really get it. He continues to play the tough guy, and blames the opposition or, now, foreign agents for being responsible for the protests on the streets, as if he has had no role to play in them. Or, in other words, you are with me or against me — as if the protesters are the enemy.