AZE.US
Turkey played a decisive role in preventing Iran’s breakup and opposed the creation of separate ethnic entities inside the country, including an Azerbaijani one, according to political analyst Ahmad Alili.
Speaking on the Novosti Kavkaza YouTube channel, Alili pointed to comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledging Turkey’s role in blocking plans to partition Iran.
Alili said Ankara had three major reasons for preserving Iran’s territorial integrity.
The first was the risk of a vast zone of instability emerging along Turkey’s border.
“No one wants a second Iraq on their border, especially one on a much larger scale,” Alili said.
The second reason was the Kurdish issue and the broader risk of ethnic separatism. According to Alili, Iran’s fragmentation could have encouraged separatist movements that might later spread into Turkey.
For that reason, Ankara does not want a Kurdish state-like entity to emerge inside Iran. It is also opposed to the creation of other ethnic republics, autonomous territories or federal regions.
Alili said this position extends to proposals for establishing an Azerbaijani political entity in northern Iran.
“Turkey does not want Iran to be divided into ethnic regions, republics or federal districts. That is not part of Ankara’s plans,” he said.
Alili argued that Turkey’s position challenges claims promoted for years by some groups in Azerbaijan that Ankara would support an Azerbaijani national movement inside Iran.
“The reality showed that Turkey does not want anything of this kind to happen to Iran,” he said.
The third factor was Israel. Alili said Ankara sees Iran as a necessary regional counterweight to Israeli power and does not want Tehran removed entirely from the geopolitical equation.
“Turkey understands that Iran cannot be taken out of the game. If that happens, Turkey itself could become Israel’s next major opponent,” he said.
According to Alili, Turkish diplomats worked extensively behind the scenes, using Ankara’s contacts in Washington and the personal relationship between Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Donald Trump.
He said Araghchi’s public recognition of Turkey’s role suggested that Ankara’s diplomatic intervention was considerably larger than what has been disclosed.
AZE.US