We are certainly living in interesting times.
The Turkish government, which has been advocating its grand strategy of "zero problems with all neighbors," has almost managed to come to the verge of war with all of them in less than a year.
Instead of "zero problems with all neighbors," we may soon have "zero neighbors with lots of problems of our own."
The situation is so tense that Reuters even compared the Turkish and Israeli navies and they have a point:
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has just announced that Turkish warships will escort any Turkish aid vessels to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. He also said that Turkey had taken steps to stop Israel from unilaterally exploiting natural resources from the eastern Mediterranean, a move which will also alarm the Greek Cypriot navy.
In the same interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, Erdogan threatened Syrian leader Bashar Assad, too, warning that those leaders who maintain their rule by blood will eventually be ousted by blood. Following the unrest in Syria, Turkey had gradually been deteriorating its warm relations with Damascus, ultimately to the point to start planning a Turkish buffer zone in Syrian territory.
As if these are not enough, the Turkish government has recently irked Iran as well, by putting the radar station of the future NATO missile shield in southeast Turkey. The Iranian government warned Turkey today, saying that the plan would create tension and lead to "complicated consequences."
Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurds are protesting Turkey for bombing their northern territories and a cash-strapped Greece is digging a 120 km. anti-tank trench along the joint land border with Turkey...
No need to mention the awful situation of Turkey-Armenia relations, following the failure of the protocols that would normalize the relations between these two countries, but may potentially destroy the warm ties between Ankara and Baku.
Of course, if there are such ties... as, WikiLeaks has recently revealed that Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, complained about the "Islamist expansionism" of Turkey behind closed doors.
Israel, Syria, Iran, Greece, Cyprus, Azerbaijan... So, only two neighbors left: Bulgaria and Georgia. I fear that the Turkish government will be as creative as ever to drive us to the verge of war between these two lovely neighbors as well.
Georgia may seem as a particularly suitable enemy, as shown by the amazing performance of its army against Russians. Prime Minister Erdoğan may start escalating the tension by reminding Georgians about that war...
And then:
One more step towards zero neighbors!
PS: Obviously, this is a tongue-in-cheek critique of Turkey's current foreign policy. I don't really believe that the Turkish government will take the risks of waging a war against any of these countries. Those who want to learn more about international relations and politics maylook into accredited online masters programs via www.GuidetoOnlineSchools.com.
