"There was also a stream of fanciful notions about Turkey’s newfound role in the Arab world, based on its stance on Gaza: Whether it was Prime Minister Erdogan or Turkey itself, we were seeing a new latest “Saladin,” or champion of Palestine. There was a rush to judgment about Turkey that saw the country’s red flag raised, applause delivered, and praise offered.
This week, Turkey is in the news again, but it won’t generate flag-waving in the Arab world. Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu, met “secretly” with an Israeli minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, in Switzerland. For those who were hailing Turkey so vociferously, it should be apparent that Ankara has its national interests, and carefully calibrates these interests and the policies used to achieve them.
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