Israel's Concerns about Normalization with Turkey

Keeping in mind that Turkey and Israel could launch mutually beneficial joint projects, including a pipeline to export natural gas to European markets, why is Netanyahu's government reluctant to shake hands with Turkey?

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Israel's Concerns about Normalization with Turkey
Is Lebanon a New Front In the Proxy War

Is Lebanon a New Front In the Proxy War?

Having lost control of Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon to Iran by turning on the Muslim Brotherhood during the Arab Spring revolutions, Saudi Arabia now seeks to regain its influence over the Middle East.

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At the regional level, Iran will continue to aggressively pursue opportunities to increase its influence, at least until Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are distressed by U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East policy, are no longer troubled U.S. allies.

Bullying Turkey through the proxy of regime forces and PYD militants won't make Ankara adopt an isolationist stance either. Integrating 3 million Sunni Arabs, after all, will only strengthen Turkey's ties with the Middle East.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Qatar and Turkey are mutually dependent on one other in stabilizing their domestic politics and normalizing the region.

The Syrian refugee crisis, escalating terror attacks and global economic growth were the headlining topics of the G20 Leaders Summit successfully hosted by President Erdoğan.

Turkey has a government that could realize political stability and economic reforms, which will make the following four years predictable.

Russia's close relation with the PYD concerns both Ankara and Washington. While Ankara is concerned about weapons that the PKK could obtain, the U.S. does not want the PYD to be included under Russia's influence in the region.

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.

One often gets this question from academics and experts: What will be the framework of international relations in the 21st century? Will it be determined by "hard instruments" such as energy, security and population?