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Turkey’s restart in regional and foreign energy policies

Ankara is recasting its policies toward Cyprus, Israel, Azerbaijan and Iraq.
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) speaks as Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev listens during a news conference following a signing ceremony in Istanbul June 26, 2012. Turkey and Azerbaijan signed an inter-governmental agreement on Tuesday on the $7 billion Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline project (TANAP), planned to carry Azeri natural gas across Turkey to Europe. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev signed the deal at an Istanbul ceremony to launch a project

After testing the realities of its entire neighborhood on a trial-and-error basis, with not-so-tangible achievements and alienation, the huge vessel of Turkey is changing its course toward a new type of "zero problems" destination.

It shows clear signs of abandoning its earlier line, based on maximalist confrontation, anger-fueled rhetoric and diplomatic reciprocity, which has in the past two years led to what is coined as "worthy solitude" — a term which has not meant a "win-win" either for itself or for the neighbors.

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