L’influence croissante de la Turquie au Moyen-Orient

L’influence croissante de la Turquie au Moyen-Orient pourrait rendre le pays plus attractif pour l’Union européenne, a déclaré Sinan ?lgen, président du Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, dans l’édition de printemps 2009 d’Europe’s World.

Turkey has become increasingly « influential in the Middle East » given its diplomatic success in the region, the commentary claims. 

?lgen points to the number of progressive goals that the country has achieved, such as ending « factional strife in Lebanon » and « engineering the start of direct talks between Syria and Israel » over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

On top of this, the article praises Turkey’s diplomatic efforts in helping to « ease the nuclear stand-off between Iran and the West ». 

?lgen notes that Turkey’s progress in the Middle East is the result of a « growing lack of US legitimacy and lack of EU influence ». As a result, the country has been « able to leverage both its regional ties and its standing in the transatlantic community to play a more instrumental role vis-à-vis its southern neighbours, » the author asserts. 

This has « without a doubt » enhanced Turkey’s role and influence in the Middle East, ?lgen declares. 

However, the author wonders whether this comes « at the expense of the country’s EU ambitions ». Indeed, « with so much of the country’s diplomatic and political energy now focused on regional issues, it seems to leave little room for advancing its EU membership ambitions, » the paper observes. 

Nevertheless, ?lgen insists that Turkey’s growing influence in the Middle East can be a « sure way of enhancing its asset value for the EU » and facilitating « Turkey’s European bid ». 

On the other hand, the author admits this claim is « predicated on the assumption that Europe has the capacity and the willingness to benefit from what Turkey has to offer ». 

Indeed, this « strategy can only pay off if the EU is able to strengthen its own capacity for concerted action on foreign policy, » the paper asserts. 

In light of Turkey’s diplomatic progress in the Middle East, ?lgen concludes that Turkish EU membership would « make Europe a more influential and capable world power ».