Turkey's Rising Mideast Role
Authors:
Steven A. Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies
Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor, CFR.org
October 26, 2011
Despite tensions between Turkey and Israel, and Turkish efforts to mediate a deal with Iran, relations between Turkey and the United States seem on the upswing, says Steven A. Cook, CFR senior fellow for Middle East Studies. Cook says the Obama administration has worked hard to overcome diplomatic problems and sees Turkey, "not just as a geostrategic asset, but as a potential partner" in a region undergoing tremendous change because of the Arab uprisings. Cook says "the Turkish star is rising," and Turkey has positioned itself as a political leader of a region "presently lacking that kind of leadership, whether it's in North Africa or in the Gulf." He says Turkey's agreement to accept a NATO deployment of early-warning radars aimed at Iran is an attempt to demonstrate that "it remains committed to being integrated with the West through NATO." In addition, Cook says the United States has been supplying Turkey with real-time intelligence on the Kurdish separatist terrorist group, the PKK, which operates out of bases in Iraq. However, Cook says questions remain about whether Turkey can be a constructive player in the region.
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