ABSTRACT
By the first decade of the twenty-first century, Turkey’s role in the Middle East became a major focus of attention for both Turkish and foreign observers. The reasons were not hard to identify. While the risk of armed conflict in Europe had virtually disappeared, the Middle East remained one of the most insecure regions of the world, with no dominant regional power, and inter-state wars and violent internal upheavals a constant threat. Its crucial position in the world oil industry made it the focus for great power rivalries as well as conflicts between producers and consumers. Narrating Turkey’s part in this story is not easy, however, since conflicts both between and within most states in the region, and unpredictable changes, made it hard to construct overall regional strategies. Hence, actions and reactions in relations with the five regional actors at the top of Turkey’s agenda – Israel, the Palestinians, Syria, Iraq and Iran – are discussed one by one. This survey closes with two developments with important implications for the shape of Turkey’s future diplomacy: first, the internal convulsions of the ‘Arab Spring’ of which the outcome was still uncertain as this book was being written, and second, Turkey’s attempt to project itself onto the wider global stage, which appeared to be opening yet another chapter in the country’s foreign policy.
