The Sunni Divide: The Ideological Rift between Turkey and Saudi Arabia
Jan 08, 2015 Written by Reza Akhlaghi, Guest Contributor
In the ongoing regional Sunni revolt against the Shia and Alawite dominated governments of Iraq and Syria respectively, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are separately becoming involved in what amounts to a war within a war, but with an ideological tone to it. Riyadh and Ankara are engaged in an ideological version of a proxy war that shares some common strategic objectives such as curtailing Iranian influence and undermining the latter’s regional interests. However, in a separate theatre, the two Sunni heavyweights—to use a phrase reflective of the region’s increasingly sectarian dynamics—have grown far apart over some key regional developments such as containment of ISIS/ISIL, support for anti-Assad rebel forces, developing a policy to address the Muslim Brotherhood, and the future of a post-Assad Syria.
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