Turkey–Iran affairs since the Arab uprisings: contending ‘strategic depths’ and Turkey’s ambiguous ‘strategic autonomy’

This article examines Turkey–Iran relations since the Arab uprisings in tandem with global and regional shifts and probes the patterns of discord and alignment by drawing on their mutual perspectives and corresponding policies. It answers why the Arab uprisings unsettled bilateral affairs and how they managed the complex challenges without major friction. Building on the themes of ‘strategic depth’ and ‘strategic autonomy’ the article discusses the destabilising impact of the shifting structural context marked by the US retrenchment from the region and the emergence of weak states in their vicinity and the mixed effects of Turkey’s growing search for autonomy from the West on Turkey–Iran affairs. It explores the post-2010 trajectory of relations in four domains- Syria, Iraq, economic expediency, and the South Caucasus- and offers a periodisation to make sense of the coexistence of discord and alignment and the limits of cooperation and conflict in bilateral ties.