It suffices to remember that, as late as 2003, France led the opposition to the Iraq War within NATO, and Turkey surprised the world, including many Turks themselves, by refusing to participate in the US-led invasion of Iraq (although French foreign policy in general changed significantly during Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency).
Security Vulnerability and the Reorganization Dilemma: What’s Next after the Failed Coup Attempt?
In the larger, regional dimension, Turkey should reinforce its relations with local actors in Syria and Iraq.
Turkey’s ISIS Problem
Another indicator of this problem is the decentralization strategy of ISIS from its core areas in Syria and Iraq.
The European Paradox: Between Islamophilia and Islamophobia
The terror attacks against the United States of America on September 11th 2001 and the following wars in the Middle East (Afghanistan, Iraq and, more recently, Syria) have proven that, far from ending, history is “alive and well” and accelerating on a dangerously unpredictable path.
The Impact of the Syrian Civil War on Identity Groups in Turkey
In addition, the civil wars and uncertainties in Syria and Iraq could become a source of tension and polarization within Turkish society.
Turkey Can Play a Role in Riyadh-Tehran Rapprochement
They have confronted each other in Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, Yemen, and now in Syria where they have been engaged in proxy battles for many years.
PKK Setback in Nusaybin
Later, it tested the rural reactions of security forces along the Iraqi border to desynchronize their power and finally rurally based PKK terrorists were sent to urban areas around mid-October 2015.
How Can Turkish-Iranian Commonalities Outweigh the Areas of Disagreement?
During the Iran-Iraq war, as Sunni Arab states and Western powers united behind the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Turkey maintained a neutral position.
Turkey’s New Economic Challenges under the New Normal
The adaptation of a multidimensional foreign policy had increased Turkey’s economic cooperation with its neighbor countries (Russia, Syria, Iraq and Iran).
The Troubling Legacy of the Sykes-Picot: A Century-Old Chaos in the Arab Middle East
Eventually, the newly created Iraq and Jordan, alongside Palestine were put under British rule, whereas Syria and the newly created Lebanon (and parts of southern Anatolia) were given to the French.
Is the Spirit of Sykes-Picot Still Alive in the Middle East after a Century?
Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen seem to be failed projects in terms of state-making and maintenance, as the mismatches between the social fabrics and the political structures of these political entities has generated deep grievances over the century.
Is Normalization Possible in Turkish-Egyptian Relations?
Riyadh is one of Turkey’s most important allies in some of Ankara’s foreign policy actions, particularly in Syria and Iraq, and more broadly in its competition with Iran.
The 2016 Elections in Iran
The country seemed to many a monolithic body which, say, pursued harmonious policies to preserve its strongholds in Iraq or Syria or conducted painstaking talks over its nuclear question.
Reforming the UN Security Council: A Global Necessity
Especially after the 2003 Iraq War, the tone of the critics sharpened as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan pointed to a crisis of the international system, most notably the UN Security Council.
PKK’s Syria Branch PYD: A Violent Non-State Actor and its Controversial Legitimacy
Eventually, the majority of PDK-S and KNC members have been pacified and forced to flee to Turkey or the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Northern Iraq.
Increasing Cooperation Between Ankara and Washington on the Syrian Issue: How About Revisiting the Safe Zone Idea?
Washington’s insistence on no boots on the ground and leading behind a strategy that relied on some state and non-state actors’ cooperation on the ground has so far failed to be successful in bringing a solution to the problems of the fractured states of both Iraq and Syria.
On Nationalism, Ethnicity and Ethnicity Regimes
Although the destabilization of the region is not a new phenomenon, the American invasion of Iraq at the turn of the century certainly came to be a catastrophic turning point.
The Geneva Talks and Syria in its Aftermath
Finding the opposition fighting against the Assad regime too “Islamic”, the US is engaged in efforts to create an artificial armed group that is in line with its own interests as done previously in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Russia in Syria
The error is that Russia will probably sink in the Syrian quagmire just as the United States sank in Iraq, and the elimination of "extremist takfiris groups" will take a very long time.
ISIL: Horror and Terror Revisited
Subsequently, the group changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq and to Levant/Syria-ISIL/ISIS.