Turkey's closer ties with Syria, Iran highlight changing region

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Turkey, a predominantly Muslim NATO ally, is aggressively pushing for closer ties with Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia -- a diplomatic drive that highlights Turkey's changing role as a bridge between the region and the United States.

Turkey's government this month held high-level talks with both Syria and Iran, countries that the United States has accused of terrorism. And on Saturday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan headed to Saudi Arabia for a regional economic forum, ahead of talks with President Bush in Washington later this month.

The diplomatic drive comes as Turkey tries to mobilize Iraq's neighbors to oppose Iraqi Kurds' plans for a federation that would include a self-governing Kurdish zone in the north. Turkey, and neighbors Syria and Iran, fear Iraqi Kurds might eventually push for independence and bring instability to their borders.

"We have said that a federation based on ethnic lines wouldn't be right," Erdogan told reporters Saturday before departing for Saudi Arabia.

Many countries in the region have long been suspicious of Turkey because of its close ties with the United States and Israel.

But some of those suspicions softened last March, when the Turkish parliament, facing widespread public opposition to a war in Iraq, refused to allow U.S. troops in the country ahead of the Iraq invasion. The decision upset relations with Washington but was hailed by many others in the region who also strongly opposed the war.

"Regional countries perceived what Turkey did as standing up to the U.S.," said Soner Cagaptay, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

But now Turkey's Islamic-rooted governing party is eager to restore relations with the United States as it seeks influence in Iraq. U.S. support for Turkey's economy also is important and in 2001 was crucial in helping Turkey to secure $16 billion in loans from international lenders amid a crippling economic crisis.

The simultaneously improving ties with Washington and states in the region are increasing the Turkish influence and could make it a conduit between Washington and nations like Syria and Iran, which are increasingly edgy about Iraq's future, analysts say.

U.S. officials, including Bush, have spoken of Turkey as a model of a secular democracy in the region.

Syrian President Bashar Assad flew to Ankara earlier this month in the first visit to Turkey by a Syrian head of state to discuss concerns about Iraq, including the Kurdish issue.

The visit raised hopes that Syria could use warming relations with Turkey to ease ties with Washington and raise contacts with Israel.

"Iraq is becoming a unifying factor in the region," said columnist Somi Kohen of the daily Milliyet. "Turkish diplomacy is trying to mobilize public opinion in the region now. This gives Turkey the opportunity to play the role of a regional power."

In an effort to improve relations with Washington, Turkey agreed after the war to open its air bases to the U.S.-led coalition for logistical support. It even offered to send peacekeepers to Iraq, an offer that was, however, shelved because of strong Iraqi opposition to the deployment.

Turkey also is allowing more than 100,000 U.S. troops to pass through a southern air base in the coming months in a major rotation of U.S. troops -- a move unforeseeable last March.

"Turkey's geography gives it an opportunity to serve as a bridge," Kohen said.

Turkey also has been careful to emphasize that the new relations do not mark a shift away from the United States.

During Assad's visit to Ankara, for example, Erdogan helped support U.S. diplomatic efforts in the region by relaying message a message from U.S.-ally Israel that it was willing to sit at the table and negotiate with Syria. Syria and Israel are technically at war.

Kohen said Assad also told him in an interview that he planned to give Erdogan a message to give to Bush in Washington.

Diplomats say the United States doesn't appear alarmed by Turkey's new diplomatic status. But they add its too say early to say if Turkey will have any success in pushing countries like Syria or Iran to reform or if the United States is even willing to use Turkey as an intermediary in the region.

Turkey's new diplomacy "is an attempt by the current government to enhance its current relations with the United States by acting as a conduit to Syria and Iran," said Bulent Aliriza, an analyst at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But the success of this depends more on the United States."