It is an open secret in Ankara that President Abdullah Gul is far from pleased with the government’s handling of foreign policy in general and the Syrian crisis in particular.

He has not spoken out critically on Syria in the past in order not to embarrass Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minster Ahmet Davutoglu, given their determination to pursue a one-track approach to this crisis that is predicated solely on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s demise.

But, like most people, Gul sees that Turkey is not only facing new and previously unexpected threats as a result of the crisis in Syria, but also that Ankara is on the fringes of all the major diplomatic efforts currently underway to stabilize the Middle East, including the Geneva II conference on Syria planned for Jan. 22.

This is in stark contrast with Davutoglu’s continuing claim that Turkey is poised to become one of the principal game setters of the region. With developments in the Middle East continuing to confound Erdogan and Davutoglu’s expectations, confronting Turkey instead with increasingly dangerous situations, Gul has clearly decided it is time to speak up.