ODD BEDFELLOWS: TURKEY AND IRAN

As the two major non-Arab powers of the Middle East, Turkey and Iran have, for a long time, walked the fine line between cooperation and rivalry while competing for regional primacy. In this article, the author argues that recent developments have added new layers of complexity to bilateral relations and that the current nature of the Turkey-Iran relationship can be primarily characterized as interactions, contradictions, and their unintended consequences that revolve around three major concentric circles: the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), the Syrian civil war, and economic-based cooperation. According to the author, the economic convergence of interests between Turkey and Iran, particularly in a post-sanctions environment, counterbalances sharp geopolitical differences, thereby preventing the escalation of friction between the two regional powers.