Turkey and Iran: Strange Bedfellows?

But many here do not see it that way. Turkey simply disagrees with the US over how to approach the problems in the Middle East. The Obama administration chooses sanctions,Turkey believes cooperation has more of a chance . I would be appalled if Turkey cut itself off from the West and aligned with the Islamic world,but thats not whats happening, said Halil Berktay,a historian at Sabanci University. Turkey is saying,Youve been talking about building bridges. This is the way to build them.

For the United States,Iran is a rogue state intent on building a bomb and crazy enough to use it. Turkey agrees that Iran is trying to develop the technology that would let it build a weapon,but says Irans leaders may be satisfied stopping at that. We believe that once we normalise relations with Iran,and it has relationships with other actors,it wont go for the bomb, said a Turkish official who works closely with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Part of Turkeys motivation in reaching out to Iran is based in realpolitik. Iran is Turkeys neighbour and also supplies the country with a fifth of its natural gas.

The approach is also part of a broader policy of economic and political integration in the region that Turkey,under Erdogan,has pursued for nearly a decade. Iranians can travel to Turkey without a visa,as can Syrians,Iraqis,Russians and Georgians. More than a million Iranians travel to Turkey on vacation every year.

The recent nuclear talks were part of that effort. They culminated in May in what Turkey,and its partner Brazil,said was a commitment by Iran to swap a portion of its low-enriched uranium with other countries. Iran would ship out part of its stockpile in exchange for a form of uranium less likely to be used for weapons.

Months ago Iran had negotiated a similar deal with the West,including the US but then backed away. At the time Iran had a smaller stockpile,and swapping material then would have deprived the country of enough fuel for a bomb for about a year.

The prevailing sentiment in Washington is that the agreement is just another Iranian ploy and that Ankara has played into Tehrans hands, said Steven Cook,an expert at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. A Western diplomat added,The general feeling in Washington is that the Iranians really arent going to negotiate away their nuclear programme.

Turkey says it fears a nuclear-armed Iran,because it would upset the balance of power between the two countries,but it also worries that the Obama administrations focus on sanctions reminiscent of President George W Bushs rush to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,some here say- will lead to war.

The Western countries do things and Turkey pays the bill, said Sedat Laciner,director of the International Strategic Research Organization in Ankara. We dont want another Iraq. Will sanctions change Iranian behaviour? No. Will it stop them from further enriching uranium? It will not, he added.

It is a risky calculation,but one that Hooman Majd,an Iranian-American writer,says the Turks are in the best position to make. Iran doesnt want to be North Korea, Majd said. It would rather be as sophisticated,powerful and respected as Turkey. Building weapons,even if they could,does not get them there. Erdogan knows that.

The United States expressed disappointment at Turkeys vote against sanctions. But Turkeys calculation was pragmatic,some officials said. Its no vote did not stop the resolution,while allowing Turkish officials to work the Arab street.

An American expert argued the regional rise of Turkey was not to be feared. It counters the influence of Iran in the Middle East,and as a NATO ally with a powerful economy,a vibrant democracy and relations with Israel,has something to teach the Muslim world,and it cannot play that role by being an American instrument. But,he said,The Turks are finding striking the balance of being a close US ally and popular on the Arab street is awfully difficult to achieve.