Turkey’s New Threat Assessment: A Challenge for Washington

Ariel Cohen / November 02, 2010

Turkey’s dramatic announcement that it revised the list of countries which it believes threatens its national security (a list alternatively known as the “Red Book”) confirms Ankara’s strategic drift away from the West and greater embrace of Iran and other states hostile to the U.S.

Turkey’s top-secret national security policy document (known by its Turkish abbreviation MGSB), or the Red Book, lists Turkey’s perceived domestic and external threats. It is regularly updated by the National Security Council, formerly chaired by a general, but as of recently under the control of the ruling Islamist AK Party (AKP).

Under the AKP, the “Red Book” just underwent its most drastic changes since the document was first issued in 1980. These alterations, which are established behind closed doors, prove the ascent of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s “neo-Ottoman” geopolitical approach  and the continuation of a staunchly anti-Israeli foreign policy. (more…)