The illusion of a substitute: Turkey is not the region’s replacement for Iran

Whenever the question of Iranian influence in the Middle East arises, Turkey is often presented as a ready-made alternative. The logic seems straightforward: if Iran’s power diminishes, Ankara will naturally step forward to fill the void. However, this assumption is based on a misleading comparison between two countries whose regional ambitions are built on fundamentally different foundations. Iran exercises influence as a revolutionary system that operates beyond the boundaries of the state. Despite its growing regional activism, Turkey still largely behaves as a nation-state seeking strategic leverage rather than ideological expansion. Some analysts have begun to frame the issue precisely in these terms. Ilan Giladi, of the University of Haifa, argued in an article published in Haaretz that Turkey could […]