Turkey’s geostrategic location makes it central to Washington’s deliberations, but it fears that an unravelling of the Kurdish issue, regional isolation and severe economic consequences might follow. Its response could be to seek greater control through active participation. But Ankara must once again be ruing the country’s prime strategic location, which it has so often tried to turn to its advantage.
Dull moments are rare in Turkey’s public affairs and this is certainly not one of them. As national elections approach on November 3, the country is facing a number of important issues that interlock in excruciatingly complex ways, including the future of its own European Union (EU) accession and that of Cyprus. In June, Turkey took command of the International Security Assistance Force in a still troubled Afghanistan. Hanging over all of this is the prospect of a US-led military attack on neighbouring Iraq, and the role Turkey might play.
