In an interview with the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations website, Jafar Haq Panah emphasized that all countries prioritize their interests in their foreign policy. Turkey is no exception to this rule and stated that Turkey’s foreign policy is based on trade and the economy. It is intertwined, and the role of the private sector is also very important. Since different political movements inside Turkey benefit from this point of view, they want to have markets abroad, and this has made the Turkish foreign policy apparatus facilitate this process.

He continued: Turkey has joined international mechanisms in terms of security, such as NATO, which has placed a strong defense shield for this country as a basic support, and with this support, Ankara is very progressive and bold in its foreign policy with a relatively open hand. In Turkey, a strategic culture has been formed after a hundred years of struggle, resulting in the interaction of power between conflicting and conflicting social forces. As the leftist and Islamist currents reached a balance in this form, none of them can be eliminated, and they are influential in the power equations at the same time.

Haq Panah said: Membership in NATO, the role of the private sector, especially in the Middle East, and the interaction of political and ideological parties and groups have contributed significantly to Turkey’s foreign policy. Therefore, this country’s foreign policy is not only a component with external characteristics but also originates significantly from internal issues. Turkey’s reconciliation with its neighboring countries, which is based on neo-Ottoman approaches, does not contradict the fact that Turkey is a member of NATO and an ally of America.

The university professor said: In Turkey’s foreign policy, we witness the diversification of interactions with different countries and regions, including Russia, China, and Arab and Asian countries. At the same time, this country has deep ties with America, Europe, and North African countries.

Stating that the Middle East has become more important in the eyes of the Development & Justice Party in recent years, Haq Panah said: From 2010 onwards, most of Turkey’s actions and policies were passive and influenced by issues such as the withdrawal of the United States from Iraq. After that, with the emergence of ISIS in the region, actors like Iran had the upper hand in the region.

Also, the outbreak of the Arab Spring in Egypt and its aftershocks in Bahrain, Libya, Tunisia, etc., brought Turkey into the atmosphere of interventionism, which had more of a security aspect. Until the defeat of ISIS and the approach of America in the region, Turkey followed this routine. Still, After 2020, it returned to the previous arrangements, increased its cooperation with the surrounding countries, and tried to organize its own political security crisis and establish a dynamic economy. Today, Turkey defines its role in the region accordingly and has reduced its competition and gaps with the region’s countries and the world. Therefore, we are witnessing the visits of Emirati, Saudi, and Egyptian officials to Ankara, which is remarkable in its own way.

Regarding the recent meetings between Turkish and Saudi Arabian officials, he emphasized that there is a mixture of competition and cooperation between them. This is also true for Turkey’s relations with other regional powers such as Egypt and Iran. The only serious regional allies of Turkey in the Arab region are Qatar, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan in the Caucasus region.

Regarding Turkey’s interaction with Saudi Arabia regarding the resolution of the Palestinian issue and the Gaza war, he said: Although Saudi Arabia has a good relationship with Hamas, it still has serious border demarcation with the Israeli regime. In this situation, the mediator is a country close to both sides of the issue. Perhaps Turkey is better than Saudi Arabia in mediating the Gaza issue because it has a relationship and friendship with both America and the Israeli regime, and historically, the Palestinian issue is tied to the Ottoman legacy. Turkey combines secular, western, and Islamic trends, and this feature can be important in its role in the Gaza issue.

The university professor stated that Turkey has always tried to play the role of a mediator in the region and on important regional issues. It has shown this desire even in the issue of Iran’s nuclear talks and in the conflict between the Arab countries of the region and the regime of Israel, the Kurds, and Iraq. Therefore, in addition to the fact that being close to Saudi Arabia is justified for Turkey in the framework of its foreign policy, this issue is also understandable from a regional point of view.