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As 2026 unfolds, Türkiye has solidified its position at the center of the world's most critical geopolitical shifts. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has led Ankara toward a strategy of "calculated flexibility," a doctrine that balances Türkiye's legacy as a NATO member with an increasingly autonomous - and often defiant - approach to regional crises. This positioning allows Türkiye to function as both a Western ally and a vital bridge to rival powers, from Washington and Moscow to Tehran and Damascus.
The Syrian Pivot and the Kurdish Question
The transformation of Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime has fundamentally reshaped Türkiye's regional strategic calculus. The landmark diplomatic breakthrough in January 2026, which saw Kurdish forces agree to integrate into Damascus's central authority, addressed Ankara's most sensitive security concern: the prevention of an autonomous Kurdish entity along its southern border. By dismantling the independent command structures of groups linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Kurdish political-military organization that Erdogan has long seen as an existential political threat, this framework seeks to neutralize a decades-long insurgency through regional integration rather than unilateral military force.
Ankara's diplomatic primacy in this "new order" was visually displayed when Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa traveled to Washington in late 2025, accompanied by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The visit signaled that Türkiye is now the primary external power shaping Syria's transition. However, the path remains treacherous. Despite the integration framework, Kurdish demands for decentralization persist, and Syrian and Turkish tensions with Israel continue to simmer. While Türkiye envisions a unified, stable Syrian state, Israeli policymakers - wary of the Syrian Interim Government and its foundations in the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist terror group - appear to favor a more fragmented landscape. Despite Azerbaijani-mediated military coordination to prevent accidental clashes, the relationship remains fragile, with Türkiye linking any rapprochement with Israel to a permanent resolution in Gaza.
Gaza and the Architecture of Peace
Türkiye's involvement in the Levant has deepened significantly since the October 2025 ceasefire. Through the UN-endorsed Board of Peace, Ankara has positioned itself as a formal guarantor of the peace process. This role grants Türkiye substantial influence over Gaza's reconstruction and political future, a development that has caused significant consternation in Jerusalem. The peace remains tenuous. By February 2026, reports of ceasefire violations - resulting in over 550 Palestinian deaths - have drawn sharp condemnation from President Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. During their recent summit in Cairo, both leaders demanded strict adherence to the American-backed framework. The Israeli government strongly opposes Türkiye's participation in the Board of Peace and in any peacekeeping framework due to its historical ties to Hamas and anti-Israel policies and rhetoric, but Ankara - supported by the Trump Administration - has skillfully made itself indispensable to any viable peace structure, forcing its allies and rivals alike to engage with Turkish interests.
Mediation: From the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea
Türkiye's role as a mediator is perhaps its most visible foreign policy tool, though it is not without setbacks. In the effort to de-escalate US-Iran tensions, Ankara's bid to host high-stakes talks was lost to the Sultanate of Oman on February 6. Tehran's preference for Muscat's traditional neutrality suggests a desire to keep discussions narrowly focused on the nuclear agenda. Nevertheless, Türkiye remains deeply engaged, recognizing that a conflict between Washington and Tehran would trigger massive refugee flows and disrupt the supply of natural gas from Iran (which makes up 15% of Türkiye's natural gas imports).
Similarly, in the Black Sea, Türkiye continues to walk a diplomatic tightrope. While providing Ukraine with military drones and supporting its sovereignty, Ankara has refused to implement Western sanctions against Russia, preserving vital economic ties. Türkiye's control of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits under the Montreux Convention (1936) provides it with unique leverage that few other NATO members possess. Even as a February prisoner swap in the UAE demonstrated the complexity of the conflict, Türkiye remains a likely host for any future trilateral peace negotiations involving the US, Russia, and Ukraine.
Erdogan's Trump Card Turns Türkiye into a Pivotal Player
For Türkiye, 2026 represents what analysts call "the year of foreign policy" - a period when external developments will largely determine domestic political dynamics. The country's hosting of the NATO Summit later this year will test its ability to reconcile its Western commitments with its independent regional initiatives. Meanwhile, the Kurdish question, historically Türkiye's most sensitive internal issue, is increasingly being managed through the lens of Syrian policy rather than domestic reform.
President Erdogan has emerged as perhaps the primary beneficiary of what some characterize as the Trump administration's transactional approach to international relations. By cultivating a personal rapport with President Trump while simultaneously criticizing US policies, Erdogan projects an image of national assertiveness that resonates domestically. This approach embodies Türkiye's attempt to navigate an increasingly multipolar world where traditional alliance structures no longer guarantee security or prosperity.
The coming months will test whether Türkiye can sustain this complex equilibrium. Managing competing pressures from NATO allies, regional powers with divergent interests, and domestic constituencies demanding both security and prosperity requires diplomatic dexterity of the highest order. Türkiye's success or failure in maintaining its role as mediator, power broker, and strategic bridge will not only shape its trajectory but will fundamentally influence the emerging architecture of Middle Eastern and Eurasian order in an era defined by great power competition and regional fragmentation.
Economic Imperatives and Strategic Opportunities
Türkiye's geopolitical ambitions are driven as much by economic necessity as strategic vision. Facing persistent inflation despite recent stabilization measures, Erdogan's government has reframed regional influence as a catalyst for economic renewal. Syria and Gaza's reconstruction carry the potential of lucrative contracts for Turkish firms, while Ankara's emergence as an energy corridor - channeling Azerbaijani gas westward and positioning itself for future Eastern Mediterranean pipelines - promises to establish Türkiye as an indispensable link between European, Asian, and Middle Eastern energy markets.
Ankara's rise as a regional diplomatic hub as also created opportunities for new markets. Late last year, Türkiye signed large LNG supply contracts with suppliers in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and other Western countries, part of an effort to build a diversified LNG supply chain – rather than one dependent on Russia and Iran (many of whose contracts will expire in the coming year). Türkiye is also seeking to attract more foreign direct investment, long an elusive goal because of the country's opaque regulatory system and political instability' in the first eight months of 2026, the country saw FDI jump 58% year on year. Ankara has been actively promoting the development of the Trans-Caspian East-West Corridor, also known as the Middle Corridor, which links Europe and China via a network of railways and roads passing through Turkey, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. If completed, the route will expand regional supply chains and build Türkiye's status as a regional logistics hub. Türkiye is also working hard to develop an innovation ecosystem within its increasingly important defense sector to position itself as a "tekno-nation;" if Ankara succeeds in cementing its position as a strategically central middle power, opportunities for technical development and defense cooperation may increase.
Yet Türkiye's bridging strategy bears costs: Türkiye's refusal to enforce Western sanctions - pragmatic for maintaining Russian and Iranian economic ties - has stalled EU customs union modernization and further delayed its moribund accession bid. Türkiye's importance for Black Sea security and as a potential partner in monitoring and enforcing a ceasefire in Ukraine has partially repaired its image—securing €200 million from the European Investment Bank just last week—but there may be a limit to this thaw in EU relations as long as Türkiye continues its balancing.
The ultimate test lies in execution. Türkiye must convert diplomatic leverage into measurable economic returns, transforming mediation into market access and geopolitical positioning into infrastructure deals. Whether "calculated flexibility" yields sustainable prosperity or merely defers the structural reforms demanded by Turkish businesses and international investors will define not only Erdogan's economic legacy but Türkiye's viability as a rising power in an era of intensifying global competition.
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