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The article presents information about several papers based on Turkey's foreign relations with several countries including Iran, Iraq and Syria.

The article discusses Turkey's relations with Iraq, Iran and Syria. These relations are shaped not only by current developments and issues, but also by deeper, structural determinants, which mold Turkish policy towards the Middle East. The first of these determinants, historical memories, has been shaped above all by the events surrounding the Ottoman Empire's final dissolution in the early twentieth century and has left a legacy of territorial grievances, resentments and mutual suspicions which continue to affect Turkey's relations with Iraq and Syria.

The article focuses on Turkey's relations with its Middle Eastern neighbors. Turkey drew some indirect benefits from the Iranian revolution. The Iranian revolution and Iran's defection from the western camp helped to strengthen Turkey's ties with the U.S. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the emergence of a number of independent republics in the Caucasus and Central Asia. For Turkey, as for Iran, these religious and cultural links, as well as geographical proximity, have offered opportunities to expand political influence and thereby opened up a new field for rivalry between the two countries.

The article discusses common issues affecting Turkey's relations with Iraq, Iran and Syria. At the December 1980 meeting of the Turkish-Iraqi Joint Committee on Economics, the two sides agreed to establish a JTC to study matters relating to regional waters, in particular, the Euphrates and Tigris river basins. Turkey's dispute with Syria over water rights, since the early 1980s, in particular, has become closely entwined with a further dispute arising out of Syria's patronage of anti-Turkish terrorist and subversive groups.

The article discusses the main determinants of Turkish policy in the Middle East. The first determinant of the Turkish policy in the Middle East is historical memories, in particular of the "Young Turk" era in the early twentieth century, which saw the beginnings of estrangement between politically conscious Turks and Arabs at the end of the Ottoman Empire. Mutual perceptions formed during that era and passed on to subsequent generations have continued to play a significant role in relations between Turkey and the Arab states.

The article focuses on the foreign policy of Turkey. The rapid ending of the Cold War in the late 1980s was initially viewed in Turkey with some concern. There were fears that the relationship with North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the U.S., hitherto the anchor of Turkish foreign policy, might be weakened, and that Turkey's international influence and security might be undermined. Turkey found its international influence enhanced and its relationship with the U.S. strengthened, as the collapse of the Soviet empire and the Gulf War of 1991 provided opportunities to play new and multiple regional roles.