Turkey-Syria-Iran Triangle Is Being Redrawn

Turkey as a moderate Islamic nation tried to foster good relations with both Sunni - and Shiite - majority countries, even after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 exposed, perhaps even exacerbated, Sunni-Shiite polarization. But the Arab uprisings this year have not only pushed Iraq into the background, but compelled nations like Turkey to take sides, explains Nihat Ali Özcan in an opinion essay for Hürriyet Daily News. He suggests that upheaval in Sunni-dominated Syria, ruled by the Alawis, a Shia offshoot, will favor Sunni interests and that Turkey’s government has parted ways with the brutal regime in Syria. “The rise to power of a ‘democratic’ Muslim Brotherhood with the mediatized and psychological support of the West would mean that Syria will no longer belong to the Shiite bloc,” Özcan writes. “Losing an ally like Syria would force Iran to lose a highly important geopolitical space.” Turkey could lean more toward the Sunni bloc of Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The West may have new means for isolating Iran. – YaleGlobal