Turkey, Iran Vying for Clout in Mideast? (Turkey-Iran‪)‬

Is mostly Sunni Turkey engaged in a tough competition with mainly Shiite Iran for influence in Lebanon and the Middle East? This question has been raised following a two-day visit to Lebanon on November 24-25 by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The visit culminated with the signing of an agreement establishing a free trade zone between Lebanon and Turkey and the creation of the High Level Strategic Cooperation and Coordination Committee between the two countries. Significantly, Erdogan's visit came a few weeks after a landmark two-day official visit to Lebanon by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad's visit on October 13-14 resulted in the signing of 16 cooperation agreements by Lebanon and Iran. Iran enjoys wide influence in Lebanon through its key ally, the powerful Shiite Hizbullah group that is largely funded, trained, and equipped by Tehran. Turkey, seeking to play a major role in regional conflicts, particularly the stalled Middle East peace process, has strived in past years to bolster its relations with Arab and Muslim countries, namely Syria and Iran. Last year Turkey, by virtue of its strong ties with both Syria and Israel, hosted several rounds of indirect Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations, but no major breakthrough has been made. The talks have been stalled since the 2008 Israeli war on Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.