Turkey as a partner for European foreign policy in the Middle East

For the last couple of years, Turkish foreign policy has been guided by a double strategy of opening up the country towards both the EU and the Middle East. Which options does this strategy entail? Would a cooperation of Ankara and Brussels help solving the conflicts in the Middle East? At the 136th Bergedorf Round Table, senior politicians and diplomats as well as leading experts discussed Turkey’s possible role as arbiter and the implications for the EU’s Middle Eastern policy. The discussion addressed the historical background of Turkish foreign policy and the country’s expanding diplomatic initiatives in recent years. Why is it that this new approach is so fiercely contested at home? Would Ankara’s policy in the Middle East benefit from Turkish EU membership? What expectations do people from the region have for European-Turkish cooperation? What mechanisms are necessary to make this partnership a success? The participants also made concrete suggestions on how Turkey and the EU should tackle the burning issues in the Middle East, e. g. the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq, Lebanon, and the Iranian nuclear file.