ABSTRACT
Turkey under the AKP renewed its commitment to the Middle East and taking on a leadership role in the region. Turkey’s newfound role in the Middle East marks the true dividing line between the pre- and post-AKP eras. With the 2011 Arab Uprisings, the AKP thought that the time was ripe to make Turkey the leader of the Muslim world and embarked on a highly adventurist foreign policy. The result, seven years down the road, is the greatest foreign policy crisis in the history of modern Turkey. This chapter examines Turkey’s relations with Iran, Iraq, and Syria, and how the Islamist ruling party shaped Turkey’s foreign policy towards its Middle Eastern neighbours.
