Ep. 203: Can Trump stop Turkey from blowing up the Middle East?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been playing a double game in the Middle East and with the United States, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. Turkey continues to back Hamas in Gaza. It also hasn’t halted its intervention in Syria, where it has a vested interest in suppressing Kurdish autonomy in order to undermine that people’s efforts to throw off repression inside Turkey. But the Turkish leader has maintained a cordial relationship with President Donald Trump. Tobin is joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Mark Meirowitz, a scholar of U.S.-Turkish relations. Meirowitz believes that the current situation in Syria is a “trainwreck” and that war between the new regime there and Israel is a distinct possibility. He also worries about the way the Turks have boxed themselves into an untenable position with respect to Hamas in Gaza by their backing of the terrorists since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Meirowitz says the only person who is likely to be able to unravel this dilemma is Trump, whom both Erdoğan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu respect. There are many good reasons for Turkey to wish to have good relations with the Jewish state, not the least the fact that their current hostility has isolated them in the Eastern Mediterranean as Israel, Greece and Cyprus have cooperated in their efforts to exploit natural gas fields while excluding the Turks. But given the many other foreign policy problems facing Washington, the president may be too distracted to be able to broker a rapprochement between Jerusalem and Ankara. CHAPTERS 00:00 – Maduro Captured: What It Signals to America’s Enemies 03:02 – Turkey After Venezuela: Ally, Adversary, or Both? 06:45 – Erdogan’s Double Game With the U.S., Iran, and Hamas 10:58 – Why Rogue Regimes Stick Together 15:40 – Turkey’s Global Ambitions Beyond the Middle East 20:25 – Pride, Power, and the Erdogan Worldview 25:55 – Islamism, Secularism, and Turkey’s Internal Tensions 31:40 – Coups, Purges, and Erdogan’s Grip on Power 36:50 – Turkey, NATO, and the F-35 Standoff 42:35 – Israel, Hamas, and the Collapse of Turkish-Israeli Ties 48:55 – Syria, the Kurds, and the Risk of Regional Collision 55:40 – Iran’s Decline and Turkey’s Strategic Calculations 1:01:20 – Somaliland, Somalia, and Turkey’s Expanding Footprint 1:06:10 – Can Trump De-escalate Israel-Turkey Tensions? 1:10:45 – The Dangerous Path Forward for the Region Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.