The Threat of Being Squeezed from Both Sides: From the Main Opposition and the Small Partner

Until a few months ago, Ankara, which expressed its intention to join all organizations, both old and new, from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to BRICS, at every opportunity, deemed it appropriate to turn back and once again prioritize repairing its fractured relations with Middle Eastern countries.

The outcomes of the talks held on August 19 in Baku during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit are being carefully analyzed, especially given leaks from Russian (!) sources on several contentious issues, while Baku remains silent on them.

While nationalists were narrowing the maneuvering space of political Islam, the response to Turkey, which aimed to improve relations with Syria, from Damascus was: "Leave our lands, and stop supporting terrorist groups." It was known that this response did not please Ankara. Therefore, a few days ago, the national defense minister, Yaşar Güler, essentially closed the door by saying, "Let Syria make changes to its constitution and hold democratic elections, and then we can think about normalizing relations."

The message from the Israeli public broadcasting corporation Kan, which claimed that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had prohibited their soldiers from staying in Azerbaijan and Georgia due to potential threats from Iran, caused confusion both in Israel and in the mentioned countries.