Turkey's Take on the Riyadh-Tehran Rivalry

Although Ankara highlights the significance of not being a part of a sectarian war to avoid increasing ideological polarization in the Middle East, it stands closer to Riyadh than Tehran.

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Turkey's Take on the Riyadh-Tehran Rivalry
The Saudi-Iranian Rift and Turkey's Position

The Saudi-Iranian Rift and Turkey's Position

Ankara, one of the most geopolitically significant players in the Middle East, is determined to take a neutral path on the Saudi-Iranian conflict, yet still, in the near future, a strategic alliance between Ankara and Riyadh rather than Tehran, seems more likely.

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With the increasing tension in relations with Iran due to the Syrian crisis, while relations with Saudi Arabia have been gaining speed in recent times, Turkey is required to take a more careful approach in politics.

Iran's sectarian expansionist policy forces the Turkish government to back the Saudi government. However, Turkey, as the only country able to prevent the power struggle between the two countries, is aware of the dangers of a possible sectarian war and thus calls the two countries to reconcile.

The policymakers in Ankara are required to accomplish a structural transformation program for socio-economic development, while fighting a low-intensity war in the southeast and overcoming the international repercussions of the crisis with Russia. Not an easy job for sure. But then, who said that politics was an easy job?

The PKK's new strategic discourse in its fight against the state is determined by the HDP's leadership which has recently brought up the ‘self-governance' debate. In this way, the HDP's organic connection with the PKK has been proven with the party's own hand.

Kurdish Nationalist Demand for Legal Status

The HDP made significant progress in the political arena, but it must keep in mind that a toxic mix of violence and cross-national alliances will not secure legal status for their voters.

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Kurdish Nationalist Demand for Legal Status
Is Negotiating With the PKK Still Possible

Is Negotiating With the PKK Still Possible?

Over the next decade, Turkey will have no choice but to deal with the consequences of the PYD's potential rise to power in northern Syria. As such, it is simply unrealistic to expect Turkey to negotiate with the PKK at this time.

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We will most probably continue to have more information about Syria policy in the next few years, and these new accounts will enable a better analysis of the policy of the Obama administration since the beginning of the crisis.

Civil wars in Syria and Iraq are reshaping the Middle East, followed by issue-based alliances, thinking ahead and working on multiple scenarios.

The fact that regional powers have been able to create a modest framework alone deserves some credit. They could, after all, help develop an Islamic language to discredit radical groups' terrorist agendas.

Moving forward, Kobani will be remembered as a transit route for terrorists and weapons as opposed to a glorified resistance-hence the Kurdish winter. Would the Kurdish nationalists hear Mr. Barzani out?

DAESH has taken the glorification of violence to the next level by targeting public squares and ordinary people in Ankara and Paris, making nobody anywhere safe anymore.

As the rotating president and host of the summit, Turkey has made giving a voice to developing countries and emerging markets its main priority on the agenda of its presidency and is looking to reform global governance to provide more inclusiveness in the market.

American administration does not want a serious role in Iraq anymore, at least not under Obama's leadership. The next president should volunteer to make serious political investments and be a sponsor for the political rapprochement in Iraq. Without a rapprochement in Iraq and Syria, the chaos will continue and ISIS will make use of it to last longer.

The growing power of the PKK and the PYD in northern Syria will remain a source of tensions between Turkey and the U.S. until Washington starts to understand what exactly concerns Ankara

The political and economic foundations of New Turkey are not crumbling; in fact they have proved resilient and continue to withstand multiple challenges. The social fabric proved resistant against divisive political rhetoric and provocative calls for mass revolts against the public order.

The HDP sees the latest wave of attacks as a window of opportunity to support its anti-Erdoğan propaganda for the Nov. 1 elections. However, this discourse only benefits the West's campaign to smear Turkey