Abstract:
Iran and Turkey are two key regional actors that separately play a role in multiple geographies in terms of both geographical weight and tenets of identity. Geographically speaking, these two countries are simultaneously influential in political-security issues in different areas such as the Fertile Crescent. When it comes to identity, by making a link between their principles and values to regional issues, especially guiding ideological movements and non-state actors, Iran and Turkey try to influence the strategic areas. In fact, these two actors seek the point at which their national interests are met in the interconnection of these two aspects of regional policy. Accordingly, instability has become the main character of their bilateral relations. The objective of the present paper is to study the scope and the way various variables are applied by Turkey and Iran in the region and in their relations with each other. Hence, the main question of this article is what issues do the factors affecting the relations between Iran and Turkey concern about and how much is the sphere of influence of these variables? In this regard, it will be discussed that their future relations would be influenced, more than anything else, by the value-ideological issues, the balance of power, and their regional roles whose scope and dimensions are determined by the interaction with other regional and international actors.
Machine summary:
While Turkey and Iran continued competing in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Persian Gulf, they managed to draw a distinction the political issues and their increasing trade and economic relations which increased the value of economic ties between them to the brink of $ 20 billion per year, as a result of economic sanctions against Iran (Aljazeera, April 16, 2016; Demirtaş, 2016: 3).
However, to understand why the competitive interaction model which had dominated Iran-Turkey relations for decades has now shifted to a competitive conflict in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Syria, it should be discussed that how the Middle East conditions after Arabic uprisings changed both countries understanding of national interests in favor of vital interests and how this assumption, coupled with a historical mentality (mainly about Turkey), has become part of their identity-political and even geostrategic policy.
Although the most important ideological challenge in relations between Iran and Turkey was Ankara’s efforts to replace its own political strategy in the Middle East as a rival for the Iranian model, Iran did not enter the issue of regional developments as far as this strife and conflict was at the intellectual level and Turkey had not laid the necessary groundwork for armed groups in Syria and Iraq.
Some Turkish analysts argue that Russia's attempts to place itself in the position of the US through heavy military presence in Syria and less involvement in Iraq is considered a short and long-term threat to the regional objectives of Iran and Turkey, despite the current strategic relations between Tehran and Moscow.