In new roles Erdogan, Davutoglu tackle regional challenges

Doubt is spreading that the new administration in regionally isolated Turkey will rise to meet its long list of formidable challenges that require international cooperation.
Displaced Syrian families gather next to a Turkish watchtower as they hope to cross the border into Turkey near the northern Syrian village of Shamarin, in the rebel-held province of Aleppo, on February 5, 2014. Children enduring the war in Syria have suffered terrible abuses, with the government and allied militia responsible for many killings, maiming and torture, according to a grim UN report. AFP PHOTO / BARAA AL-HALABI (Photo credit should read BARAA AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images)
Displaced Syrian families gather next to a Turkish watchtower as they hope to cross the border into Turkey near the northern Syrian village Shamarin, Feb. 5, 2014. - BARAA AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images
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Semih Idiz
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Turkey is facing a set of challenges in the Middle East, largely but not entirely because of the advent of the Islamic State (IS), which it never expected to face two years ago. Prime Minister-designate Ahmet Davutoglu will have to chart a new course through the turbulence in the region that has started to pose serious threats to Turkey.

Experts do not appear hopeful that the Davutoglu government, which will operate under the tutelage of President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan, can rise to the occasion. The expectation is that Erdogan and Davutoglu will be preoccupied with the 2015 general elections and have little time to spend on foreign policy.

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