Tensions in Turkish-German relations are fast becoming a diplomatic breakdown between the two countries.<\/p>\n
This should be a serious cause for concern because it will have long-term repercussions, reaching beyond bilateral relations.<\/p>\n
The pro-government, nationalist media in Turkey is no stranger to insulting other countries with historically-ignorant, populist comments.<\/p>\n
It is more unusual for the head of state or government ministers to use highly inflammatory statements.<\/p>\n
With the confrontational and undiplomatic language<\/a> deployed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against Germany at the weekend, this time Turkey has really backed itself into a corner that it will find hard to break out of.<\/p>\n Accusing Germany of \u201cNazi practices\u201d for blocking campaign rallies by Turkish ministers before the constitutional referendum on April 16, Mr. Erdogan seems to have consolidated grass-root support in Turkey.<\/p>\n By doing so, he has massively widened the rift between Turkey and its European partners.<\/p>\n The German government had, initially, given the impression that it would refuse to respond in kind and try to contain the crisis, but the Turkish side has kept escalating the row.<\/p>\n The day after the President\u2019s outburst<\/a>, and on the eve of his own campaign rally in Hamburg, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu \u00a0joined the chorus, slamming <\/a>\u00a0Germany for cancelling political meetings. Germans withdrew permission for Mr. Cavusoglu\u2019s gathering, forcing organisers to look for another venue.\u00a0 His meeting with his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, on Wednesday in Berlin, is not likely to be a friendly exchange.<\/p>\n Right now, Turkey is simultaneously facing several other foreign policy difficulties.<\/p>\n In the northern Syrian town of Manbij, Turkey risks running into a conflict, not only with the Syrian Kurd forces and the Syrian regime, but with the United States, too, as Amberin Zaman explains<\/a> in a recent article in Al-Monitor.<\/p>\n In Iraq, the Sinjar area near the Syrian border has become the scene of fierce clashes between rival Kurdish groups and Turkey is blamed for the latest outbreak of violence there.<\/p>\n Away from conflict zones, Turkey\u2019s standing in international organisations is getting shaky, too.<\/p>\n