Turkey Role in New Middle East

Turkey’s Reconciliation Efforts in the Middle East Ambitions and Constraints in a Changing Regional Order Since 2021, Turkey embarked on a Middle East reconciliation initiative involving Syria, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This initiative responds partly to evolving regional dynamics and Turkey’s specific challenges, such as its protracted economic crisis and regional isolation. These reconciliation initiatives are not a single package. Although they are part of a broader process of regional reconciliation and thus interrelated, Turkey’s reconciliation with each individual country has its own unique dynamics. Each case has its own drivers, strengths, and obstacles, resulting in a wide range of outcomes at the conclusion of the reconcilia¬tion initiatives. With Syria, reconciliation has remained at the level of diminished hostil¬ities (détente), while with Egypt it has reached the level of full diplomatic normalisation of relations. Reconciliation with the UAE has gone further, and it even has the potential for a realignment between the two countries.