"Post-PKK Operations: Will Turkey Change Its Attitude toward Iran and Syria?
By H. Akin Unver
Turkish Daily News, February 4, 2008
Since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, the absence of U.S. action toward the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) presence in northern Iraq has been driving a wedge between Turkey and the United States. Meanwhile, Turkey's ties with Iran and Syria, which analysts characterized as “cold if occasionally cordial” in the 1990s, have been transformed in the last years. Seeing the U.S. paralysis against the PKK as an opportunity, Tehran and Damascus have acted against the PKK, combating the group to win Turkey's heart. Accordingly, coupled with the Strategic Depth policy of the AKP (Justice and Development Party), Turkey has been promoting closer ties with its Muslim neighbors. The United States is now helping Turkey against the PKK, as it did in the 1990s, but will Turkish ties with Iran and Syria be affected? The facts suggest Turkey might well not wish to go back in time."
More:Article or Op-Ed
