Introduction

The focus of this chapter is on the rationale behind Turkey’s growing interest in the Gulf region and the growing desire of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to develop relations with Turkey. Some of the most significant political and security issues between Turkey and the GCC countries will be discussed, including the state-building process in Iraq, the threat of international terrorism and radical Islam, threats emanating from a nuclear Iran, the role of the United States and Nato in the Gulf, and possible implications of the evolving Turkey-GCC relationship for a broader cooperative security architecture. The GCC countries have neither been able to resolve their security challenges through the collective security mechanism of the United Nations nor the US security arrangements and NATO, in which Turkey is a crucial member, and which cannot be relied upon at times due to domestic concerns on the one hand and structural constraints of the United Nations and of Turkey acting via Nato on the other. Alternatively, another practical long-term policy approach for Turkey would be to pursue a broader cooperative security approach, in tandem with some Asian states, including India and China, who have a deep interest in the maintenance of stability and security in the Gulf region.

The first section of this chapter addresses a series of security challenges common for both Turkey and the GCC countries, the balancing role of Turkey between the Gulf countries and Iran’s nuclear power ambitions. Turkey’s Gulf policy is not only based on developing better business and trade relations, but also predicated on preserving stability and political status quo in the region. The elimination of security challenges in the Gulf region including the spread of radical Islamic terrorism and preventing the partition of Iraq along ethnic (Kurdish, Arab and Turkoman) and sectarian (Shia and Sunni) lines require concerted action by Turkey and the GCC countries. As a result of the changes in the regional and global security dynamics after the end of the Cold War, the GCC governments’ diverging views on the US-led Broader Middle East Initiative and their dissatisfaction with the US-led operation in Iraq, the GCC countries began to seriously consider Turkey as an alternative balancer and a security partner in the Gulf region. The memorandum of understanding on the initiation of a strategic dialogue between Turkey and the GCC countries in 2008 gave Turkey a strategic partner status. Turkey was the first country to acquire this status outside the Gulf. This section also addresses Turkey’s foreign policy attitudes toward Iran’s nuclear programme and the mutual concerns of Turkey and the GCC countries not to alienate Iran.