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Wednesday, May 20, 2009      Geostrategy-Direct.com

Report: Turkey seen breaking with NATO on Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah

President Barack Obama at Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque during last month's visit to Turkey.   AFP/The White House/File/Pete Souza
WASHINGTON — A report by the Washington Institute said Ankara has moved steadily away from its NATO allies and toward Iran, Russia and Syria.

Turkey's new foreign policy, led by the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has come at the expense of Ankara's relations with Israel, the European Union and the United States, according to the report authored by senior researcher Soner Cagaptay.

"Ankara will likely opt out of a NATO consensus on Iran, clash with the United States on how to handle Hamas and Hizbullah, and disagree with the EU and the U.S. on Russia," the report, titled "The AKP's Foreign Policy: The Misnomer of Neo-Ottomanism," said.  

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The report said Turkey has developed friendlier relations with Russia and the Islamic world than with the West. Cagaptay cited Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Syria.

"The AKP's foreign policy has a weakness for Arab Islamists and their causes," the report said. "The policy shows empathy towards Middle East Muslims and Islamists, though the same empathy is missing towards non-Muslims and non-Middle Eastern issues. Business deals play an important role in sustaining the stronger ties that Turkey is developing with Russia, the Persian Gulf states, Sudan, and Iran."

At the same time, Turkey refused to support Georgia during its brief war with Russia in 2008. The report said Turkey has also ignored its Central Asian neighbors, such as Azerbaijan and Georgia, to focus on relations with Russia.

Cagaptay said AKP, most of whose leaders speak Arabic and were educated in Muslim schools, has divided the world in religious blocs — either Christian or Muslim. AKP, which won power in 2002 and dominates parliament, has avoided criticism of Iran's nuclear progam while maintaining ties with Teheran's proxies, Hamas and Hizbullah.




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