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Turkey can't afford to take sides in Qatar crisis

A rattled Ankara is trying to keep to the middle ground in the crisis around its ally Qatar, but its soft calls for dialogue are unlikely to have much impact.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (C) arrives to welcome Qatar's Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani (Unseen) before their meeting at Cankaya Mansion in Ankara, on September 8, 2016. / AFP / ADEM ALTAN        (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)
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The political earthquake in the Gulf took Turkey by surprise, even as many observers argued that the crisis was foreseeable. Ankara finds itself caught in the middle of another bewildering regional dispute not of its making but likely to have negative implications for it.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quick to work the phones to try to defuse the crisis. Among those he talked to were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, and the emirs of Qatar and Kuwait.

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