Turkey is now paying the price for its coziness with Iran and Syria. What was probably an inevitable pitfall of its decision to orient itself toward regimes in direct opposition to Israel, Turkey may soon feel the anger of a revolutionary Syrian population eager to cut off ties with Turkey.
It would be a satisfying scenario for Israelis, who have been a political punching bag for Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey the last several years. He has ridden Israel’s political situation to the pinnacle of popularity in the Arab World, particularly Palestinians (you can see Turkish flags next to Palestinian ones hanging in the windshields of the Jerusalem Palestinian buses). But I cannot say it any better than the recent op-ed for the Los Angeles Times:
Turkey’s position as the new superpower in the Middle East might soon hinge on what it does with a new Syria. Backing Qaddafi and Assad for so long has sunk the Prime Minister’s credibility. Don’t forget, his government has also denied Darfur’s genocide (directly contrasting it with Israel’s Gaza War, as 300,000 dead in Darfur are meaningless compared to 700 Hamas combatants and civilians killed by collateral damage). He also continues to pressure Western countries not to recognize the Armenian genocide.
When this tide of protest and upheaval hits Iran, and especially if and when that country goes democratic, those ties will unravel and Iran will no longer be blocked off by the Western World or Israel. Erdogan picked a risky and flawed policy that is showing its drawbacks right now.
