Monday, 24 January 2011 11:11

Turkey's Influence in Iraq Surges

By Richard Weitz (vol. 4, no. 2 of the Turkey Analyst) 

Though not pursuing an overt or perhaps even deliberate policy of balancing Iran, Turkey has managed to overcome years of tense ties with Iraq and emerge as a major force in that country’s political, economic, and cultural life.  Whereas the Shiite members of the new Iraqi government seek to limit the influence of the Persian Gulf monarchies, and non-Shiite leaders want to constrain Iranian influence in their country, neither they nor any other influential Iraqi group oppose Turkey’s growing sway in their country. As it quietly helps to keep Iraq out of Tehran’s orbit and by linking Baghdad to the West, Ankara is set to increase its own regional influence and, potentially, enhance its value as a strategic partner of Western and Persian Gulf governments.

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By Svante E. Cornell (vol. 3, no. 11 of the Turkey Analyst)

Ostentatiously seeking zero-problems with neighbors, Turkey has ended up taking on an erstwhile strategic partner in the region. Its growing economic clout does indeed legitimate Turkey’s aspiration to have a decisive say in Middle Eastern matters. Ultimately, Turkey’s new, assertive – indeed aggressive – foreign policy is predicated on the notion that the West is on the decline. Yet as they rather carelessly wield their newfound power, the Turks seem curiously oblivious to the risks of overreaching.  

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By Halil M. Karaveli and M.K. Kaya (vol. 3, no. 6 of the Turkey Analyst)

Opinion polls in Turkey show that there is a very real possibility that the next general election may return one or two of the nationalist opposition parties, CHP and MHP to power. The nationalist opposition, together with strong resistance within the ruling AKP itself and the government’s mishandling of those initiatives, has in fact already helped force the AKP to abandon its openings to Armenia and to the Kurdish minority. A Turkey ruled by the secularist-nationalists would be more circumspect in its dealings with Muslim countries. Yet in a fundamental sense, the secularist-nationalists are, just like the current government, inclined to defy the West, strategically as well as ideologically.

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By Rafis Abazov (vol. 2, no. 22 of the Turkey Analyst)

Recent Turkish foreign policy initiatives have asserted the country’s growing influence in its neighborhood.  One of the important, yet overlooked, factors that underpin Turkey’s growing clout in international affairs is the demographic dynamics. Today’s Turkey is a country of about 76 million people, up from 56.5 million in 1990, making it the second largest European NATO country after Germany. However, the recent report by the UNFPA estimates that by 2050 the population of Turkey will reach 100 million people, making it the largest country in Europe outside Russia. This change has important implications that will affect the new geopolitical and geo-economic balance in Europe. However, although demographics offer Turkey an advantage, it also calls for well-balanced economic policies.

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By Hüseyin Bağcı (vol. 2, no. 22 of the Turkey Analyst) 

Turkey’s recent international initiatives and not least its “openings” to neighbors with whom relations have traditionally been less than friendly, signal a qualitative as well as quantitative change of what was once a defensive and cautious foreign policy. Turkish as well as international observers are experiencing difficulties as they try to make sense of what is perceived as Turkey’s “new orientation”. Although it may be tempting to conclude that Turkey is being “lost” for the West, the country does in fact remain a principally Western power, albeit one that enjoys a much greater room for maneuver in the international arena than ever before.

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Joint Center Publications

Op-ed Halil Karaveli "The Rise and Rise of the Turkish Right", The New York Times, April 8, 2019

Analysis Halil Karaveli "The Myth of Erdogan's Power"Foreign Policy, August 29, 2018

Analysis Svante E. Cornell, A Road to Understanding in Syria? The U.S. and TurkeyThe American Interest, June 2018

Op-ed Halil Karaveli "Erdogan Wins Reelection"Foreign Affairs, June 25, 2018

Article Halil Karaveli "Will the Kurdish Question Secure Erdogan's Re-election?", Turkey Analyst, June 18, 2018

Research Article Svante E. Cornell "Erbakan, Kisakürek, and the Mainstreaming of Extremism in Turkey", Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, June 2018

Analysis Svante E. Cornell "The U.S. and Turkey: Past the Point of No Return?"The American Interest, February 1, 2018

Op-ed Svante E. Cornell "Erdogan's Turkey: the Role of a Little Known Islamic Poet", Breaking Defense, January 2, 2018

Research Article Halil Karaveli "Turkey's Authoritarian Legacy"Cairo Review of Global Affairs, January 2, 2018

 

The Turkey Analyst is a publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Joint Center, designed to bring authoritative analysis and news on the rapidly developing domestic and foreign policy issues in Turkey. It includes topical analysis, as well as a summary of the Turkish media debate.

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