Turkey’s former president Abdullah Gul has called for the country to pursue a “more realistic” foreign policy, in one of his most significant political interventions since leaving office, reports say.
Gul, president from 2007 to 2014, made the thinly veiled attack on the government’s foreign policy late Saturday at a fast-breaking dinner for the holy month of Ramadan also attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Gul co-founded the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with Erdogan. But tensions between the two men have been an open secret since Gul handed over the presidency to Erdogan in August 2014.
“To be frank, I think it would be beneficial to review our policies in the Middle East and the Arab world with a more realistic approach,” the Dogan news agency quotes Gul as saying at the post-dinner speech in Istanbul.
Turkish former president Abdullah Gul (photo credit: Pierre Terdjman/Flash90)
“Another big development is promised in the region and if a great chaos emerges we could be faced with surprises that we never considered before,” he adds.
Gul says Turkey needed to go back to being an “inspiration” in the region and develop its relations with all the countries, including current foes like Egypt.
— AFP
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