Zero problems...

Does anyone remember the "zero problems with neighbors" slogan of the Ahmet Davutoğlu prime ministry in Turkey? Well, it appears as if several centuries have passed since Davutoğlu vanished from the front pages of the Turkish media, even though he was ousted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May 2016 - less than a year ago. Like Davutoğlu, his slogan as well has gone down the drain as not only is there no one talking about such a fictional target, but Turkey's government has become a country at odds with everyone, including half of its own population.

"Zero problems with neighbors" was of course not something achievable. In private discussions, the late Süleyman Demirel praised Davutoğlu for having such a "noble target" but stressed that he had difficulty in understanding whether the minister was intending to surrender and accept all the demands of Turkey's neighbors or planning to invade all the neighbors and thus achieve the status of no problems with any of them. Since the government of every country is entitled to defend the interests of its own people and state before developing any sort of empathy and understanding about the demands of its neighbors, is it possible to avoid tensions between countries that have intense interactions? Naturally, Turkey may not have any bilateral problem with, let's say, Ecuador, but is it possible not to have any problem with any of its neighbors even if no effort is spared to avoid troubles? 

Turkey cannot have airspace violation problems with South Africa. It cannot have discussions on upstream-downstream issues with Canada. Colombia and Botswana cannot accuse Turkey of holding back the Euphrates waters, condemning them to drought… Well, Turkey frequently complains that its Western allies abet and support...

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