But Akin Unver, an assistant professor of global relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University believes Turkey could eventually cooperate with Russian Federation and Iran out of pragmatism because aligning with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation strategy in Syria has proved a mistake for Turkey.
Advertisement
Turkey has accused US-based Gulen of organising the failed coup. Unlike Western leaders, he congratulated “the Turkish nation for the defiance they showed against the coup-plotters”. It means North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has no right to dictate its terms and tell us who we should or should not meet and communicate with, ” Yardim said on August 11, as cited by RIA Novosti.
Moscow first used Iran as a base from which to launch air strikes in Syria on Tuesday, deepening its involvement in the five-year-old Syrian civil war and angering the United States.
The incident caused the severing of diplomatic relations, as well as a sharp drop in the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey. The State Department pretended not to be surprised.
“Turkey remains a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally and an important partner in the fight against DAESH”, State Department spokesman John Kirby said during a press briefing. “Turkey’s further steps on the issue will determine the dynamics of relations between Russian Federation and Turkey”, he said. Two terms later, we see the result.
It is virtually unheard in recent history for Iran to allow a foreign power to use one of its bases to stage attacks.
Another row followed weeks later, when Turkey blocked a visit by German parliamentarians to 250 German soldiers stationed at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey. “As soon as Erdogan gets his visa-free regime with the European Union, I think we’ll see a reverse trend where Ankara will be integrating with the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and will be distancing itself from Moscow”. Romania, however, denied the report.
The Turkish foreign minister says a “permanent solution” to the ongoing conflict in Syria can not be achieved without the participation of Iran and Russian Federation.
In remarks on Wednesday the lawmaker backed the military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, saying, “Flying Russian jets from the Nojeh air base (in Hamadan) is in compliance with the Supreme National Security Council’s ratification and within the quadrilateral cooperation framework among Iran, Russia, Iraq, and Syria”.
Cavusoglu also praised Moscow’s reaction to the coup attempt in Turkey and its stance on the FETO network. We could not imagine that they were secret agents.
“There should be no threats emerging in the region for anyone, for Turkey, for Russian Federation or for anyone else”, Cavusoglu said.
In his remarks, reported by the state-run IRNA news agency, Larijani did not directly discuss the strikes, though he said Iran has “cooperated with Russian Federation, as it is our ally on regional issues, especially on Syrian issues”.
Turkey has been a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member since 1952. And now, a new strategic triangle is ostensibly taking shape amid the ever shifting sands of the Middle East: Iran and Turkey are making overtures leading to talk of an alliance that in addition to the Czar and the Sultan, includes Iran, or for want of a better moniker, the Shah. But years of fighting in Syria and Iraq have threatened the security and stability of Turkey’s southeastern borders, where hostile groups like DAESH and the PKK are vying to establish their authority. The strongmen of the two countries – Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin – are both leaders who command nearly fanatical support among their followers, crush dissent when it arises and aspire to their county being a dominant power in the Middle East.
Advertisement
Increased military activity in the region peaked in November 2015 when Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane which allegedly ignored repeated warnings after violating Turkey’s airspace while carrying out operations on the Syrian side of the border.
