Turkey between Syria and Israel: Turkey’s Rising Soft Power

SETA Policy Brief, May 2008, Brief No: 15, 6 p.Turkish policymakers exhibit a high degree of selfconfidence and willingness to pursue intensive diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East. Turkey pursues a multidimensional policy line to foster peace and stability in the region, and has already enjoyed some degree of success. Turkish policymakers seek to utilize Turkey’s good relations with Syria and Israel to wield an influence on these countries to facilitate Israeli‐Syrian negotiations. The increasing level of trust to Turkey’s new image of civil‐economic power in the Middle East and the U.S. support for Turkey’s potential contribution to chronic problems of the region have made Turkey a potential mediator in the decades‐long Syrian‐Israeli conflict.