Turkey Seeks Ottoman Sphere Of Influence
Normalization of ties with the Kurds and Israel are part of a broader strategy for an Ottoman sphere of influence and confrontation with the "Shiite axis," writes Kadri Gursel.
Looking from the outside, one could get the impression that Turkey was running amok in the Middle East in the second half of 2011. During that period, there were few countries or actors Ankara did not confront, even threaten.
There were even occasions when Turkey’s foreign policy leaders had separately, but on the same day, defied Israel and Iran, two nations hostile to each other.
On the morning of Sept. 2, a day after the UN panel report on the flotilla affair was leaked to The New York Times with a pro-Israel slant, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced a five-item sanctions list that quickly put relations with Israel on a "cold war' footing: Diplomatic relations would be lowered to the minimum level, and all military agreements would be suspended; Turkey would take all measures necessary to ensure safety of navigation in the eastern Mediterranean; Turkey would not recognize Israel’s blockade of Gaza; All support will be given to flotilla victims to claim their rights.
In the later hours of the same day, in contrast to the agitated and stiff Davutoglu statement, the Turkish foreign ministry in a written response to a question announced that Turkey had agreed to deployment on its territory of the radar elements of a NATO ballistic missile-defense system.
