Top business association: Turkey's attempts to shape Middle East are beyond its capacity

Speaking at a meeting of the Aegean Young Businessmen's Association in İzmir on Friday, Yılmaz commented on various issues, including the economy and diplomacy, and underlined that one of the major faults of Turkey's much-debated foreign policy is that it is focused on other countries' troubles.

“The biggest mistake that Turkey made in its foreign policy, is it's thinking about others problems rather than its own chronic problems,” said Yılmaz, while addressing the businessmen in İzmir.

Giving the examples of Greece, Azerbaijan and Cyprus, Yılmaz said that Turkey was unable to solve the problems in these countries. Adding that the biggest blow Turkey took to its foreign policy was the Arab Spring, Yılmaz noted that Turkey had become the victim of its passion to rule the Middle East region.

“The biggest strike was the Arab Spring. The Arab Awakening tantalized everyone and Turkey was overwhelmed by its passion. Turkey became assertive, trying to shift from the role of regional power to global power. It attempted to shape the Middle East, which is beyond its capacity,” Yılmaz said, stressing that Turkey's foreign policy became a victim of the government's desire to become a model democracy for the Arab countries.

Turkey's foreign policy has been severely criticized in the domestic and international arenas for the government's miscalculations in the region. Turkey's tough stance on the Syrian civil war and the Egyptian coup led to frayed relations with once-key allies.