Turkey and the New Middle East

Despite its limited contribution to democratization, the Arab Spring has already changed the general tectonics of the Middle East. Asserting that the Arab Spring has seriously changed the political dynamics of the region, this commentary focuses on two issues to analyze how Turkey is being influenced by the new dynamic and priorities that were introduced by the Arab Spring. The author argues that one critical development that is vital to Turkey is the rise of the Shi’ite axis in the Middle East while the second issue that is likely to have an effect on Turkish foreign policy is the strong inner "Kurdish Spring" effect of the Arab Spring.

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