Journal Article: "Iranian-Turkish Relations in a Changing Middle East"

My latest Journal article "Iranian-Turkish Relations in a Changing Middle East" is now available at: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ipcj.2018.21.issue-1/1641-4233.21.06/1641-4233.21.06.xml. It is part of a Special Issue of academic journal International Studies. Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal dedicated to "The Political and Social Problems of the Contemporary Middle East and its Neighbouring Areas", Volume 21, Issue 1, edited by Radoslaw Bania, Associate Professor of Political Science and Dean of Faculty of International relations at the University of Lodz (Poland).

This is the first of a series of works that I dedicated to the study of Iran-Turkey relations in the context of reorganization of power and order in the Middle East. I previously had the chance to discuss it within the panel "Prospects for new Power Configurations in the Middle East and Asia" chaired by Prof. Bania during the Political Science World Congress organized by IPSA (International Political Science Association), held in Poznan, July 23-28, 2016.

ABSTRACT: After the outbreak of the Arab Spring and, above all, the intensification of the Syrian crisis with Ankara starting to engage in a political confrontation with Assad’s Syria, Tehran tried to exploit its historic strategic alliance with Damascus in a search for projecting its influence abroad. As Turkey has been facing more and more hardships and experiencing political isolation, Iran seemed to be more comfortable with its external environment, benefiting from a convergence of interests with Russia. However, the advent of ISIS created further disarray in the region, presenting opportunities for countries to cooperate especially for Erdogan’s new Turkey which was still focused on fighting Kurds.