Journal - Orient Online

Turkey’s foreign policy in the Middle East Swimming out of its depth?

Dr. Philip Robins

A decade ago Turkey was ‘a rising power’, cultivated by Europe and the Middle East, and with tangible benefits flowing, such as its 2009/10 UN Security Council membership. Turkey’s fall from grace has been equally as rapid but in a way that has both jeopardised its reputation and dissipated its impact. Though it fleetingly began the ‘Arab Spring’ to good effect, Turkey’s decline since then has been devastating. It was particularly ill prepared to face the most important challenges to its foreign and security policies, namely the devastating conflict within Syria and the unexpected collapse of much of the Iraqi state. More concerned with its great and regional power relations,Turkey was slow to engage with Syria and Iraq in a context of regional turmoil. In spite of its best attempts, stalemate characterises its relations with Asad’s Syria. In Iraq, where outcomes are still difficult to predict, Turkey’s abandonment of the Syrian Kurds at Kobani has inflicted reputational costs at a global level.

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The Journal for politics, economics, and culture of the Middle East published by the German Orient-Institute

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