This time around, Washington serves to ease tensions, as the Trump administration made a $12-billion military deal and decided to hold joint exercises with Qatar.

SETA Foreign Policy Studies Director Ufuk Ulutaş said that the recent Gulf crisis is an attempt to redesign Middle East politics and it is not about the alleged support of terrorism by Qatar, but rather a result of Qatar following its own terms in regional matters.

Although diplomatic attempts may resolve the conflict at the political level, at the public level, it will be harder to fix the damage if these countries continue to blockade Qatar, especially during the holy month of Ramadan.

The attempt to politically ostracise the tiny emirate is more likely to isolate Riyadh than to bring Qatar to its knees.

To make the region stronger and politically more powerful, Turkey and the Gulf states should shoulder the responsibility and start taking steps to develop a close mutual cooperation

Egypt's warming toward Russia, Iran and Syria, and its ongoing hostility to Turkey, is fatally undermining relations with Saudi Arabia

Having lost control of Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon to Iran by turning on the Muslim Brotherhood during the Arab Spring revolutions, Saudi Arabia now seeks to regain its influence over the Middle East.

Ankara, one of the most geopolitically significant players in the Middle East, is determined to take a neutral path on the Saudi-Iranian conflict, yet still, in the near future, a strategic alliance between Ankara and Riyadh rather than Tehran, seems more likely.

So far the Obama administration's Middle East policy ignited the polarization between Gulf nations and Iran further. Thus, it remains a big challenge for the U.S. to end regional turmoil through diplomatic means anytime soon.

No need to say that this will create a substantial additional bill for energy-dependent countries like Turkey, and multi-pronged strategies shall be prepared beforehand to ensure energy security.

Gülşah Neslihan Akkaya: No official statement has been issued; however, Saudi Arabia and Qatar will clearly support the intervention as Saudi Arabia is the number one arms provider to the Syrian opposition.

For those who are serious about the United Nations Alliance of Civilization initiative chaired by the prime ministers of Turkey and Spain, I have a suggestion: Give a new start to the initiative by lifting the sanctions on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). This will send a powerful message to the Turkish people as well as other Muslim countries that the Europeans and Americans are serious about improving their relations with the Islamic world. Last week, the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICFY) held its first international advisory board meeting in Kyrene/Girne, northern Cyprus. The theme of the meeting was “Youth for the Alliance of Civilizations.” The meeting was opened by a keynote address by Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Turgay Avci, who emphasized the significance of the fact that such a meeting was taking place in northern Cyprus. He also reiterated the Turkish Cypriot people’s will to help create a united island and integrate with the rest of the world.  

Iraq is like a miniature of the Middle East with its population structure and social characteristics. Each domestic actor in Iraq has relations with ethnic and religious groups in the neighboring countries.