Will Turkey's Bid to Improve Relations with U.S. Affect Its Ties with Iran and Syria? (Turkey‪)‬

Turkey has strived in past years to strengthen its relations with Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries, namely Syria and Iran, in an attempt to play a major role in regional conflicts, especially the stalled Arab-Israeli peace process. Turkey's strong relations with Syria were translated into a Turkish involvement in the Middle East peace process. 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 was made. The talks have been stalled since the 22-day Israeli war on Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Relations between Turkey and Israel, once close allies, have been strained since the Israeli war on the militant Hamas group in Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. Turkey has since been taking a harshly critical stand on Israel's repressive policies against the Palestinians and supportive of the Palestinian cause. Then came the Israeli commando raid on a Turkish-flagged flotilla carrying aid and medicine to the Palestinians under Israeli siege in Gaza to further strain Turkish-Israeli relations. The Turkish-Israeli tension subsequently led to a strain in Ankara's ties with the United States. At least, nine Turks, including one who also held U.S. citizenship, were killed in the May 31 raid. In a swift response, Turkey recalled its ambassador from Israel and scrapped plans for three joint military exercises. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan harshly criticized Israel, saying relations between the two former allies will never be the same again. Furthermore, the Gaza war and the flotilla incident have prompted Turkey to bolster its ties and cooperation with two of Israel's arch foes, Iran and Syria.