Russia and Turkey in the Middle East by Asim Oku
"Turkey, until recently one of the most faithful allies of the USA, has progressively become a supporter of Moscow's interests in the Middle East. Two major questions arise in this connection. How can rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara affect Washington's position in the Middle East? And how strong and monolith this forming "union of four": Russia - Turkey - Iran – Syria will be? It is possible to assert with confidence, that merging of Russian and Turkey's interests in the Middle East put the USA into a complicated situation. Before the Iraqi operation Washington believed, that Ankara is going to support America, and Moscow was supposed to maintain the neutral position. But both countries end up "on another side of the barricades", backing up major US opponents in the Middle East - Iran and Syria. And, in fact, operation in Iraq was directed not so much against Saddam Hussein, but mostly against the regimes that support and initiate Islamic terrorism – namely Iran, Syria, and indirectly - Saudi Arabia. Today, despite the US efforts, Syria and Iran are not outcasts anymore. Putting political pressure upon them became complicated, and military operation against Damascus and Teheran threaten to transform the USA into the outcast itself."
