Although Ankara highlights the significance of not being a part of a sectarian war to avoid increasing ideological polarization in the Middle East, it stands closer to Riyadh than Tehran.

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.

With the increasing tension in relations with Iran due to the Syrian crisis, while relations with Saudi Arabia have been gaining speed in recent times, Turkey is required to take a more careful approach in politics.

Iran's sectarian expansionist policy forces the Turkish government to back the Saudi government. However, Turkey, as the only country able to prevent the power struggle between the two countries, is aware of the dangers of a possible sectarian war and thus calls the two countries to reconcile.

It might be a quite saddening but crystal clear truth that democratic values, principles and institutions that claim to be universal do not apply to Western perceptions of political development in Turkey or the Middle East in general.

Turkey's strategic journey towards a more developed, democratic and prosperous future will continue regardless of conjunctive challenges.

In a period where different political powers have come to terms and made a notable progress about the new administration, and while 96 percent of the relevant works are completed in Yemen, could the launch of a new movement to divide the country starting from the region of Hadramout be a coincidence?

What does Ennahda movement do in order not to share the same fate with the Morsi administration in Egypt and what are the difficulties it comes across?

Following the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al Assad, who has violated all the red lines in international politics, the US and others have started to discuss a possible military intervention in Syria, but this is mostly because they have concerns about maintaining the legitimacy of the international system.

Since January 2011, Arab regimes have also employed the terrorism card to maintain their grip on government.

Russia is now about to pay the cost for its decision to invest in al-Assad -- a decision Russia has difficulty justifying even to itself.

The massacre in Houla last week demonstrated once again that not much has changed since the uprisings started in Syria. The Baathist regime continues to kill in front of the whole world.

Turkish foreign policy has entered a new phase, and it is highly possible that this phase will prove to be a breaking point.

On January 14, 2011, Ben Ali fled Tunisia after 23 years in power, signaling the end of the distorted regional order in the Middle East and North Africa.

INSIGHT TURKEY DEBATES   Chair:     İhsan Dağı, Insight Turkey    Speakers:    Kemal Kirişci, Boğaziçi University     Alper Dede, Zirve University      Date: June 2, 2011 Thursday  Saat: 14.00-16.00  Venue: SETA, Ankara

Once Turkey considers and comes to terms with the challenge of formulating a new political language, it can rise to the level it aspires to as a new actor in a new region and in a new global order.

Turkey's foreign minister talks about  how the region has rediscovered its sense of possessing a common destiny.