Let’s note two events held in Ankara this week: the sixth annual Ambassadors Conference with a theme of “strong democracy, dynamic economy, effective diplomacy,” and the German Marshall Fund’s conference, “Turkey’s Foreign Policy Reset.” While the former sends a message of absolutism about the current path of Turkey’s foreign policy, the latter simply suggests it needs restoration. The gap between these two perceptions seems unbridgeable.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, for example, said in his Jan. 13 opening remarks at the Ambassadors Conference, “Remember the excitement after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Democracy was expected to spread all around, but we see an opposite trend in the first 14 years of the 21st century: 9/11, interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the continuing revolts since the Arab Spring. At such a time, it is crucial that our diplomacy holds a position. What is this diplomacy holding a position? It’s respect for human dignity.” He added, “There can be no solution in Syria without honoring human dignity.”

The participants at the German Marshall Fund’s event on Jan. 14, expressing their views under the Chatham House Rule without the risk of being directly quoted, challenged the moral aspects of the current policy. The general thrust of discussion was that there can be no singular moral approach while dealing with crises, and that the government seems obsessed with morality, claiming there can be only one moral approach to all things.

“There are different moral approaches to different moral issues,” one participant said. “One could also argue that keeping the communication channels open with the Bashar al-Assad regime would have constituted a moral stand as it could have helped save lives. The Egyptian crisis could also be dealt with differently. ... It might be better for Turkey to stop creating new sets of challenges for itself in this volatile region and stop cutting its maneuvering ability short.”