Since the AKP ("Justice and Development Party") first came to power in 2002, Turkey has increasingly turned its back on the West and Israel, forging much closer ties and aligning its interests vis-à-vis the Middle East with Iran and Syria. Such an alliance entailed, for example, a request for Israeli forces not to participate in the annual "Anatolian Eagle" military exercises, the formation of the "Turkey-Syria High Level Strategic Cooperation Council," and support for Iran's nuclear program. Accordingly, these events have given rise to what has been termed the "resistance" bloc in the Middle Eastern Cold War, as opposed to the "status-quo" bloc led chiefly by Saudi Arabia. Could Turkey leave the resistance bloc in the present circumstances? Two recent developments seem to point in the affirmative direction. First, the unrest in Syria has led to a refugee crisis along Turkey's southern border. While Damascus continues to mass troops and tanks near the frontier with Turkey in order to prevent an outflow of Syrians into its northern neighbor, Turkey has....
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