Turkish "zero problems" policy changed to "precious loneliness" approach - paper

Describing Ankara's approach as one of "purely ethics-based foreign policy," [Laciner] said that "Turkish foreign policy is not rational or sustainable, and not a foreign policy at all, as foreign policy should be based on a country's national interests. So, if Turkey's...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBBC Monitoring European
Format Newsletter
LanguageEnglish
Published London BBC Worldwide Limited 25.08.2013
Subjects
Erdogan, Recep Tayyip
Morsi, Mohammed
Walker, Joshua
TURKEY
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Summary:Describing Ankara's approach as one of "purely ethics-based foreign policy," [Laciner] said that "Turkish foreign policy is not rational or sustainable, and not a foreign policy at all, as foreign policy should be based on a country's national interests. So, if Turkey's current foreign policy and Ankara's loneliness are not sustainable, then they cannot be considered valuable, either." Elaborating on the concept of "precious loneliness" on Thursday, KalA+-n said via Twitter that he is using "precious" to mean "worthy or valuable" or "value-based." KalA+-n offered this explanation after Taraf's Amberin Zaman said earlier that same day to KalA+-n via Twitter that the most appropriate translation of "precious loneliness" ("deAYerli yalnA+-zlA+-k" in Turkish) might be "worthy solitude." Calling "precious loneliness" a continuation of Foreign Minister Davutoglu's theories of diplomacy, including "rhythmic diplomacy," another first in international relations, Joshua Walker, a transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States who is also an expert in Turkish foreign affairs, says that following Davutoglu's logic Turkey's relative isolation from its neighbourhood during the Cold War had more to do with the framework that dominated the mindset of Turkish foreign-policy elites for decades, rather than events on the ground, whereas now, as seen regarding events in Syria and Egypt, Ankara publicly relishes taking the moral high ground as it cuts off relations with dictators who don't support the will of their people.