Devaluation again

After the end of the Cold War, Turkey is perhaps experiencing the most stagnant period in its foreign policy. About half of the reasons for this stem from the Islamist policies Ankara has pursued over the past 15 years, while the other half is due to historical mutual disagreements and, particularly, the stance of countries that do not wish to see Turkey's arms industry strengthen.

Until a few months ago, Ankara, which expressed its intention to join all organizations, both old and new, from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to BRICS, at every opportunity, deemed it appropriate to turn back and once again prioritize repairing its fractured relations with Middle Eastern countries.

The outcomes of the talks held on August 19 in Baku during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit are being carefully analyzed, especially given leaks from Russian (!) sources on several contentious issues, while Baku remains silent on them.

While nationalists were narrowing the maneuvering space of political Islam, the response to Turkey, which aimed to improve relations with Syria, from Damascus was: "Leave our lands, and stop supporting terrorist groups." It was known that this response did not please Ankara. Therefore, a few days ago, the national defense minister, Yaşar Güler, essentially closed the door by saying, "Let Syria make changes to its constitution and hold democratic elections, and then we can think about normalizing relations."