Qatar becoming another diplomatic debacle for Turkey
Experts question the logic behind Ankara’s decision to station troops in Qatar and anger key Arab powers, just as matters are coming to a head in Syria and Iraq.
The Qatar crisis may be shaping up as another instance of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “jump before you look” approach to foreign policy. Rowing against the current seems to have become a feature of Ankara’s relations with the Middle East since the start of the now all but dead Arab Spring.
Former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was clear about Turkey’s role five years ago, when he was still the foreign minister and the architect of many of Ankara’s regional failures. “Turkey is seen in all Middle Eastern societies today not just as a friendly and brotherly nation, but also [as] a country that has the power to lead a new idea and a new regional order,” he told parliament in April 2012.
Turkey, however, did not become the leading power that was reshaping the region. Ankara is happy today if it can protect its own security interests. Developments it never foresaw left it facing problems on more than one front in the Middle East.
The Qatar crisis has added a new dimension to these and will require diplomatic subtlety to manage. Instead of opting for the safety of the middle ground and avoiding jeopardizing its ties with the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Ankara has sided with Doha.
