TURKEY’s newly installed prime minister, Binali Yildirim, has dusted off a time-honoured formula for dealing with his country’s troublesome neighbours: turn down the rhetoric and act nicely. “Our most important foreign-policy goal is to increase the number of friends,” he said in a speech on July 11th. “There is no reason for us to quarrel with Iraq, Syria, Egypt; with the countries of this region.”
Mr Yildirim has got off to a good start. In a single day last month, Turkey agreed to restore ties with Israel, with which it has been at odds since 2010, and apologised to Russia for bringing down a jet that veered into its airspace in November after a bombing run over Syria. Officials from the ruling party have since raised hopes of progress in peace talks in Cyprus, divided since 1974 between an internationally recognised Greek south and a Turkish-occupied north. They have also floated a cautious opening with Egypt and a rethink of Turkey’s botched Syria policy. After the Arab Spring of 2011, Turkey rushed headfirst into the flames that engulfed the Middle East, backing the Muslim Brothers in Egypt and Islamist insurgents in Syria. Having...Continue reading
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