Rethinking Turkey-Iraq Relations

This book explores key historical episodes to understand the reasons and consequences of the enduring partiality problem in cooperation between Turkey and Iraq. Notwithstanding their mutual material interdependence and common cultural heritage, these two close neighbors have stayed far from achieving comprehensive cooperation. The author examines contextual-discursive dynamics shaping Turkey-Iraq partial cooperation around critical events, such as the Saadabad-Baghdad pacts, the Gulf War, the US Invasion, and the war against ISIS. Leading pro-government Turkish daily newspapers of the period are analyzed to highlight ambivalent ontological-rhetorical modes and ambiguous political narratives-frames that perpetuate paradoxes of partiality in Ankaräs rationalization and contextualization of cooperation with Baghdad and Erbil.

Mehmet Akif Kumral is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Gaziosmanpäa University-Tokat and Visiting Researcher in International Relations at Middle East Technical University-Ankara, Turkey. He is the author of Hashemite Survival Strategy: The Anatomy of Peace, Security and Alliance Making in Jordan.

1 Introduction: Methodological and Conceptual Framework.- 2 Prelude to Cooperation: Saadabad Pact and Dyadic Costs.- 3 Epilogue of Cooperation: Baghdad Pact and Regional Ramifications.- 4 Prologue to Non-Cooperation: Gulf War and International Implications.- 5 Finale of Non-Cooperation: US Invasion and Local Losses.- 6 Conclusion: Cross-Episodic and Overarching Findings.- 7 Post-Script: Perpetuation of Partial Cooperation.