Professor Jamal Wakim argues that Turkey’s loud rhetoric against Israel hides a much deeper complicity, because Erdogan’s regional project was never only about Palestine or Syria, but about positioning Turkey for a wider hegemonic role from northern Syria to the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
In this geopolitical reading, the war on Iran was not only an Israeli-American project. It also created an opening that Turkey hoped to exploit. If Iran had collapsed or fragmented, Turkey could have moved more aggressively through the Zangezur corridor, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia, while secessionist pressure inside Iran weakened one of the main barriers to Turkish expansion.
That is why Iran’s resilience blocks not only Israeli hegemony in West Asia, but also the wider project of redrawing the region through Turkish ambitions, Gulf money, and Western strategy.
All of my op-eds and podcasts are freely available, thanks to the generous support of readers like you. Nonetheless, independent journalism takes time, research, and resources. If you find value in this podcast conversation or others I’ve published, please consider sharing it or becoming a paid subscriber. Your support, whether big or small, truly matters and helps keep this work going.
—Kevork Almassian is a Syrian geopolitical analyst and the founder of Syriana Analysis.
