Wednesday April 8, 2015

I've Been Thinking:

Yesterday Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the now infamous leader of Turkey, visited Iran.

Erdogan of Turkey traveled to meet with his counterpart, Rouhani of Iran. It was a major meeting and in the end they held a joint press conference during which they called for an end to bloodshed and suffering in the region.

The entire episode is mind boggling. These two leaders and their countries find themselves on opposite side of almost every issues in the Middle East – and here they are, acting in concert.

Iran supports Assad. Turkey supports the rebels in Syria and in Iraq. Iran supports Hezbollah, Turkey sides with ISIS.

As late as last week Turkey called Iran a force bent on destabilizing the region thrusting the region into conflict. Turkey joined the multi-national force organized by Saudi Arabia to combat the Houthi in Yemen while Iran sponsors the Houthi in Yemen.

So what does it all mean?

It means that Iran is playing the diplomat card. It means that Turkey wants to be the big diplomat in the region, just as Iran does. It means that this is a very dangerous alliance.

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