Why Turkey's Dream of Regional Leadership Failed
By Steven A. Cook
Nov 18 2011, 10:51 AM ET
INSTANBUL -- With the sharp deterioration of Turkish-Syrian relations over the last two days, some Turkish and Western observers have declared Ankara's "zero-problems" foreign policy dead and buried. This sentiment has been building for some time, especially among critics of the ruling Justice and Development Party, but the denouement of the Erdogan/Davutoglu investment in Bashar al Assad--a signature policy--seems to have signaled the end of what has been billed as Turkey's transformative diplomacy. The facts are hard to ignore. In an era when Ankara aspired to no problems with its neighbors, it actually has cok (many) problems: Syria, Israel, Armenia, Iran, Cyprus, and the EU to name just a few.
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