Turkey and the Middle East Cauldron

Ankara has long been the proverbial elephant in the Middle East annex. Ever since the rise of Recep Erdogan, Turkey’s role has been consistently ambiguous.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media in front of a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 24, 2015. In a major tactical shift, Turkish warplanes struck Islamic State targets across the border in Syria on July 24, Turkish officials announced—a move that came a day after ISIS militants fired at a Turkish military outpost, killing a soldier. In a related, long-awaited development, Erdogan confirmed that Turkey had agreed to let the United States use a key base in southern Turkey for military operations against the militants “within a certain framework.” Depo Photos/AP

Turkey has long been the proverbial elephant in the Middle East annex. Ever since the rise of President Recep Erdogan, the country’s role has been consistently ambiguous.

After four years of observing the boiling cauldron of Syria, Iraq, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Iran, and multiple variants of “rebels” of every local religious/ethnic/cultural variant, Erdogan has apparently decided on a course of interventional action. It is carefully designed to maximize Turkish interests.

After four years of observing the boiling cauldron of the Mideast, Turkey's leader Erdogan has apparently decided on a course of interventional action … carefully designed to maximize Turkish interests.