Turkey is known that in all its foreign policy matters it acts exclusively and only after its interests, completely ignoring the fact that it is a member of NATO and an extension of the West from which it nevertheless derives security and geopolitical power.
Turkish President Erdogan has avoided including his country in the US-led coalition in the Red Sea, established last month to counter attacks on ships linked to Israel by Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, better known as Houthi. In this way, Turkey once again avoided taking a position in favor of the West as it should, in a new regional conflict.
Despite being a US military ally, Ankara appears to be keeping a careful distance from any initiative against the Houthis in the Red Sea. Ankara’s current stance is partly influenced by its desire to protect relations with Riyadh. With Saudi Arabia reluctant to join the US-led mission amid ongoing peace talks with the Houthis, Turkey does not want to disrupt ties with the Kingdom by joining the coalition and potentially threaten the progress of talks. In addition, Turkey needs the capitals of the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain) given the reconstruction that will have to take place in Southeast Turkey and the support of its economy. The capitals of the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf will reduce the size of the capitals that will be requested by Turkey to the IMF & World Bank.
At the same time, Turkey knows that Iran is behind the Houthis. Both Iran and Turkey are experiencing tensions with the Kurdish populations in Iraq and Syria. It should not escape us that Iran supports Armenia, while Israel supplies Azerbaijan with weapons. Turkey is the great ally of Azerbaijan. A tension between the two countries of Turkey and Iran will cause a change in the “front” towards Turkey and in its interior.
When the Houthis explicitly project their activity in the Red Sea as a reaction to the Gaza war, Turkey, which patronizes the Palestinians with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been trying in recent years to appear as “the father” of the Muslims of the Middle East, it would seem like a big mistake for Turkey to participate in the US-led International Red Sea Deterrence and Patrol Force.
