Episode 24: With Iran down, Turkey steps into the breach - a conversation with Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak.

Jun 26, 2025

Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, a scholar at the Moshe Dayan Center and a top expert on Turkey, dives deep into Turkey's evolving role in the Middle East. He discusses how Turkey's neo-Ottoman ambitions have positioned it as a formidable player following Iran's decline. The conversation reveals Turkey's shift towards an anti-Israel stance and its efforts to unite Muslim nations, posing significant implications for regional security. Dr. Cohen also questions whether a future clash between Turkey and Israel is inevitable or if a diplomatic resolution is possible.

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INSIGHT

Turkey's Rising Middle East Influence

Turkey is filling the power vacuum in the Middle East left by Iran and others after recent conflicts.
It positions itself as a major regional military power alongside Israel, shifting regional dynamics.

INSIGHT

Turkey Names Israel Top Threat

Turkey officially declared Israel its top national security threat in early 2024.
This marks a major policy shift from traditional pro-Palestinian stances to explicit antagonism against Israel.

INSIGHT

Turkey's Propaganda Against Israel

Turkish government fuels conspiracy myths claiming Israel threatens Turkish territory.
Propaganda harms Turkish public perception, fostering hostility toward Israel based on unfounded fears.

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(Update: audio issues corrected)

Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize Israel. I was an ally and vital trading partner for decades -- until the rise of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, head of the Islamist AKP party, who began pursuing a "neo-Ottomanist" foreign policy of Turkish influence and expansionism in the region, and specifically identified Israel as a long-term ideological enemy.

Turkey is now forging alliances on all Israel's borders and looking to found an Islamic defense alliance a la NATO. Earlier this year, Turkish lawmakers formally declared Israel the country's top national security threat.

As Iran's influence retreats in the wake of the war, Erdogan has already energetically stepped into the breach, calling for Israel to be dismantled and trying to position himself as leader of the Muslim political world. Unlike Iran, he may well have the military and geopolitical clout in the region to get it done.

Are the two countries on a trajectory for a clash in, say, 20 years' time? Or can these two Middle Eastern powers find a modus vivendi that prevents more conflict in the region?

We posed this question to Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, a scholar at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University who grew up in Turkey's Jewish community and is today one of Israel's top Turkey analysts.

This episode was sponsored by an anonymous sponsor and dedicated to Aviv Atzili, 49, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 was while fighting alongside the kibbutz’s emergency response team. His wife, Liat, was kidnapped that day, but was released as part of the first truce in November 2023.

Aviv's body was located and returned to Israel for burial in a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation in Gaza two days before the start of the Israel-Iran war together with the body of Yaakov Yagil, also from Nir Oz. We remember them.

Please join me on Patreon to support this project: ⁠ www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at ⁠haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur