Turkey is an Increasingly Shaky Ally Against Iran

James Phillips / September 10, 2010

Last weekend the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, traveled to Turkey, a NATO ally that increasingly has charted its own course on Middle Eastern issues, particularly Iran.  Although Mullen’s ostensible purpose was to meet with his newly appointed counterpart, General Isik Kosaner, Mullen undoubtedly also sought to smooth over recent strains in bilateral relations caused by Turkey’s deteriorating relations with Israel and its improving relations with Iran.

Ankara’s vote against U.N. sanctions on Iran in June and its disingenuous diplomatic effort, in tandem with Brazil, to broker a cosmetic agreement that would have taken international pressure off Iran without resolving the problem of its nuclear weapons program, greatly disappointed the Obama Administration.

Admiral Mullen maintained that “I have not come to question or in any way rebut Turkey’s decision [to oppose] U.N. sanctions in Iran, though I note with gratitude the government’s decision to enforce those sanctions.”  Mullen also denied that his visit was designed to prod Turkey into stepping up its efforts in Afghanistan, where it has committed 1,700 troops to the coalition effort, the ninth largest foreign contingent, but has refused to allow its troops to undertake offensive operations against the Taliban. (more…)