Turkey as Confused as We Are by Syria

11-29-2011 • lewrockwell.com/Eric Margolis

ISTANBUL – It’s dark and foggy here today along the mighty Bosphorus that separates Europe and Asia. Just as murky and dangerous as exploding next-door Syria.

Turkey’s formerly very successful "no problems" foreign policy crafted by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutogolu buried old arguments with Syria, Iran, and Lebanon and opened billions of new trade for Turkey’s bustling exporters. Turkey’s red hot economy grew 7% last year – almost as fast as China.

By contrast, Turkey reluctantly abandoned Libya’s Gadaffi, and old friend, with whom Ankara was doing about $23 billion in trade, as a lost cause. Erdogan’s response to Syria was similar: Erdogan insists the Assad family must go and be replaced by a Turkish-style democracy tempered with Islamic values of social welfare and justice.

Interestingly, Davutoglu just announced a new "Turkish-Egyptian axis," thus linking the region’s two most powerful, populous nations. Davutoglu, citing an old Ottoman maxim said, "Turkey will be again placed at the center of everything."