"The Turkish joker
Ankara appears key to new US foreign policy under Obama, writes Mustafa El-Labbad*
President Barack Obama's recent visit to Turkey inaugurated a new chapter in the assignation of roles in the Middle East. It marked a clear recognition of Turkey's political and geographic importance in the region and gave a green light to Ankara's more active engagement in shaping international balances of power. The significance of this should not be lost on us. It marks the beginning of a new strategic partnership between the world's main superpower and a rising regional power, and its effects are certain to be felt for some time to come in that huge geographical arc extending from the southern borders of Russia through the Caucasus, Iran and Iraq, to Syria and the eastern Mediterranean."
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