Turkey’s Middle East policy has transfo r med in recent years a nd is now mo r e involved in the region, employs mo r e soft power tools a nd actively engages in third party roles in regional conflicts.

Turkey has improved its relations with bo r dering states as a result of its “zero problems with neighbo r s” policy.

This paper examines the elements of a new Turkish fo r eign policy in the Middle East a nd focuses on the reasons fo r its evolution as well as its structural conditions a nd political leadership.

In discussing these facto r s this paper aims to identify the circumstances that have created on opening fo r change. It is argued that those structural conditions which emerged at the beginning of the new millennium coincided with a strategic political leadership that led to this transfo r mation.

It is also emphasized that “pull facto r s” have been impo r tant fo r a new Turkish engagement with the Middle East. Perspective on Turkey in the region have become mo r e positive in recent years a nd there is much mo r e interest in Turkey a nd mo r e suppo r t fo r its involvement in regional politics.

However, different acto r s in the Arab wo r ld have different perceptions of Turkey a nd its impo r tance fo r the region. Some focus on Turkey as a strategic asset in the constantly shifting a nd highly volatile regional balance of power, while other perceive Turkey mo r e as an impo r tant economic partner a nd critical fo r the debates on political refo r m in the region.

Finally, this paper focuses on the issue of sustainability of Turkish fo r eign policy in the Middle East in the face of certain challenges, it is argued that recent development in the region- especially the so-called “Arab Spring” have presented difficulties fo r Turkey in light of the instabilities in various Arab countries a nd have challenged Turkey’s political a nd economic interests. أقرأ أقل