The Turkish joker - by Mustafa El-Labbad
President Barack Obama's recent visit to Turkey inaugurated a new chapter in the assignation of roles in the Middle East. It marked a clear recognition of Turkey's political and geographic importance in the region and gave a green light to Ankara's more active engagement in shaping international balances of power. The significance of this should not be lost on us. It marks the beginning of a new strategic partnership between the world's main superpower and a rising regional power, and its effects are certain to be felt for some time to come in that huge geographical arc extending from the southern borders of Russia through the Caucasus, Iran and Iraq, to Syria and the eastern Mediterranean. The US presence in the region had suddenly pulled the rug from under Ankara's feet as proxy, a role that it had performed so well, and to make matters worse the surge of Turkish national ambitions beneath the American umbrella in Iraq threatened to spill over into Turkey and ultimately threaten its territorial integrity. The resolve of the Obama administration to break with the Bush administration's policy has dramatically altered this situation. Washington is now set to withdraw from Iraq and it wants Ankara's logistical and political support. Only in this context can we understand the significance of the Obama visit.
In addition to having been elevated to a new special footing with the US as a strategic partner and as the new American president's sole regional forum for addressing the Islamic world in the hope of repairing the American image so drastically damaged by Bush, Ankara has won additional kudos in NATO. In short, with all its strategic advantages, Turkey is in a position to help Washington achieve a whole gamut of objectives in the far-reaching geopolitical game that is unfolding on that vast board that stretches across the Middle East, Central Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Indeed, Turkey could well become the "joker" that the Obama administration will depend on to trump the US adversaries' cards in the different parts of the board. Although this administration is still in the process of getting the feel of all players, so far it appears that the Turkish card will prove an invaluable and reliable asset.
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