Turkey and the US in the Middle East: Diplomacy and Discord during the Iraq Wars

(Hardback)

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Written by the former chief foreign policy advisor to the Turkish president and based on unprecedented access to official documents and communiques, this book gives the inside story of Turkish US relations from the first Gulf War, through debates on the Iraqi Kurdish question, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and into the present day. Using events in Iraq as the basis for a theoretical case study, Gurcan Balik argues that Turkey influenced US foreign policy on several key occasions, and that Turkish support was instrumental in the first intervention in Iraq. After Iraq's 1991 uprisings, however, Turkey's interests in the Middle East began to diverge from those of the US, and their relationship gradually deteriorated, evident in Turkey's refusal to open up its northern border to aid the US advance to Baghdad in 2003. Balik contends that an 'Iraq gap' then emerged, which has since had major implications for the Turkish economy and for the future of the Middle East.Turkey and the US in the Middle East contains hitherto unpublished primary source material, and is an essential addition to the scholarship of the period."

Reviews

This excellent book provides a wealth of empirical evidence and detailed policy analysis on how the two Iraq wars have become the center of gravity in Turkish American relations in the post-Cold War era. As a scholar-practitioner who served at the commanding heights of Turkish foreign policy, Gurcan Balik, has produced an essential account for both researchers and policy makers.--Omer Taspinar, Brookings Institution and National Defense University (03/15/2016)", 'Balik's work is one of the most detailed studies detailing how the Iraq Wars tested U.S.-Turkish relations, twice. A must read for anyone seeking to understand Turkish foreign policy today and the future of U.S.-Turkish ties.' - Soner Cagaptay, Beyer Family Fellow and Director of Turkish Research Program, Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Author Bio

Gurcan Balik was the chief foreign policy advisor to President Abdullah Gul and has held a number of key diplomatic posts in Turkey. He recently completed a PhD in War Studies at King s College London."