Turkey's Role in the Mediterranean Following the Arab Uprisings
Turkey: a New Power in the Mediterranean Turkey’s Role in the Mediterranean Following the Arab Uprisings Sir Michael Leigh ogy. Turkey’s rapprochement with the United States Senior Adviser is essentially with the administration, while voices in Keys German Marshall Fund of the United States, Brussels Congress and in the wider public are more critical of its human rights record, rift with Israel and failure to come to terms with Cyprus and Armenia. The suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street Overall, however, Turkey has manoeuvred adroitly fol- vendor, in December 2010, and the occupation the lowing the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle 2012 next month of Tahrir Square in Cairo by protesters, East, quickly adapting to changed circumstances and followed by the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and of identifying new partners. Its main challenges now are Med. Hosni Mubarak, the Tunisian and Egyptian dictators, to help restore regional stability, to prevent a spillover transformed international perceptions of their coun- of sectarian tensions into Turkey, and to manage its tries. The policies towards this region previously relations with Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the pursued by European countries, the United States, United States and Europe, despite marked diver- Russia, Turkey, Israel and others quickly needed rec- gences over developments in the region. 54 alibrating. All had been to different degrees com- plicit with the anciens régimes. Turkey was the most fleet-footed in adapting to new realities. Europe’s reaction to the arab Uprisings After examining briefly the reaction of key interna- tional actors, this paper focuses on the evolution of With the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, rela- Turkish policy in response to changed political cir- tions between southern European countries and cumstances in North Africa and the Middle East.
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