Turkey One the Eve and in the Wake of the Arab Spring

Middle Eastern Analysis (ORSAM) Vol. 5, No 58, October 2013, pages 10-20

Prof. Dr. Tarık Oğuzlu *

This short essay aims to take stock of Turkey’s regional and global outlook on the eve and in the wake of the Arab Spring. The main argument is that whereas Turkey’s international profile was extremely positive on the eve of the Arab Spring, the way how Turkey has approached the Arab Spring in general and the internal turmoil in Egypt and Syria in particular seems to have dented Turkey’s image over the last three years. The challenge Turkey now faces is how to strike an optimum balance between the two different dynamics of emerging global order, namely the need to contribute to regional integration in the Middle East on the one hand and the need to develop pragmatic cooperative relations with key global actors on the other.

* Prof. Dr. Tarık Oğuzlu, ORSAM Middle East Advisor, Antalya International University

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