Turkish-Arab Ties (Arab Report‪)‬

Turkey's New Role in the Middle East Is Turkey's newfound strategic interest in the Middle East jeopardizing its ties with Europe and the West? F. Stephen Larrabee, writing in the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Survival Journal this spring contended that it is not, because Turkey will always act in its best strategic interests, and for the moment, those are still aimed at eventual European Union accession. At the same time Turkey is said to be making this "turn to the East", enhancing relationships with states such as Syria and Iran, it remains inextricably tied to the West "through its membership in NATO, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development." Turkey, contends Larrabee, is pursuing an aggressive regional foreign policy aimed at securing Turkish relationships with its neighbors that is not at odds with its continuing "need ... for strong ties with the United States."