Poised for heavy diplomatic traffic in the Middle East, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made an appeal earlier this week for “re-opening channels of dialogue and getting rid of misunderstandings in the Gulf region.” The call was intended to underline Turkey’s recent rapprochement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and Israel, as well as Ankara’s attempts to end its feud with Saudi Arabia.

“We will maintain our relations with our brothers and sisters in the Gulf…within the framework of our common interests and mutual respect,” Erdogan said as he headed for Doha earlier this week. Qatar’s Emir and the visiting Turkish president on Dec. 7 presided over the two countries’ Supreme Strategic Committee and oversaw the signing of 15 accords that ranged from health to cooperation between their two top diplomatic forums…