Saturday
Sep052009
Inside Line Special: Iraq, Syria, and Turkey's Move into the Middle East
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Iraq and Syria are in the midst of the most serious tension between the two countries since the 2003 Iraq War. The Iraqi Government has blamed two devastating truck bombs that killed 95 people and wounded 600 in Baghdad on August 19 on insurgents who crossed the Syrian border. Yesterday Iraq deployed thousands of reinforcements along the border, and the Government asserted that it had provided Damascus with evidence linking Iraqis in Syria to the bombings.
Two countries' conflict are another's opportunity, however. For Turkey, mediation between Baghdad and Damascus is a chance to implement its "strategy in depth" in the Middle East. On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad.
After offering his condolences to Iraqi people and a denunciation of the bombings as a threat to the stability of Iraq, Davutoglu asked the Iraqi Government to take a become milder line towards Syria, following al-Maliki’s initial harsh statement that Iraq "asked Syria to return to us those targeting the Iraqi people but Syria sent us only common criminals.” Davutoglu told al-Maliki that there was no short-term solution for the crisis and offered to take information and documents to Damascus, establishing co-operation between Syria, Iraq and Turkey.
The documents referred to briefly today in The Washington Post are the outcome of Davutoglu's intervention. But this, for Ankara, is only the beginning. Just as it used another crisis, the Gaza War of December-January, to further its ties with Syria and its Middle Eastern presence, so it will now extend that influence by being the "good broker" to two of its most important neighbours.
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![Davutoglu at Brookings4 08 10-resized Davutoglu at Brookings4 08 10-resized](http://s3.media.squarespace.com/production/497390/6654791/wp-content/uploads/Davutoglu-at-Brookings4-08-10-resized-150x150.jpg)
Two countries' conflict are another's opportunity, however. For Turkey, mediation between Baghdad and Damascus is a chance to implement its "strategy in depth" in the Middle East. On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad.
After offering his condolences to Iraqi people and a denunciation of the bombings as a threat to the stability of Iraq, Davutoglu asked the Iraqi Government to take a become milder line towards Syria, following al-Maliki’s initial harsh statement that Iraq "asked Syria to return to us those targeting the Iraqi people but Syria sent us only common criminals.” Davutoglu told al-Maliki that there was no short-term solution for the crisis and offered to take information and documents to Damascus, establishing co-operation between Syria, Iraq and Turkey.
The documents referred to briefly today in The Washington Post are the outcome of Davutoglu's intervention. But this, for Ankara, is only the beginning. Just as it used another crisis, the Gaza War of December-January, to further its ties with Syria and its Middle Eastern presence, so it will now extend that influence by being the "good broker" to two of its most important neighbours.
tagged
AFP,
Ahmet Davutoglu,
Hoshyar Zebari,
Iraq,
Israel,
Jalal Talabani,
Nuri al-Maliki,
Syria,
Turkey,
Washington Post,
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Iraq,
Middle East & Iran
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