William Hale: zero-problem policy as challenging as riding two horses

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's current policy of zero problems with neighbors is better than its highly defensive and securitized foreign policy of the past, but this new policy puts Ankara in the position of a circus rider who is riding two horses at the same time, a Turkish expert said.



"I think it is extremely difficult for Turkey at the moment to have good relations with Syria, Israel and Palestine," said Professor William Hale from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.



He recalled that there were times in the past, too, when Turkish-Israeli relations were not good - even worse than today. "For example, in the 1970s, there were sharp reactions from the Turkish government to the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel. At one point, Turkey even broke off diplomatic relations with Israel, but now there is no intention of breaking relations. Relations with Israel are too developed to allow such a thing to happen. You have Hamas and a divided Palestine on the one side, and the rightist government in Israel on the other. That makes, for the time being, two horses going in opposite directions," he said, Today's Zaman reported.