Turkey and Iran: Facing the Challenge of the Arab Spring

Turkey and Iran had different perspectives on the transformation of the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring. Why were Tehran and Ankara not able to avoid a rivalry on Syria? Would they be able to find a way to strike a balance and move beyond the current phase, as in the past? What were the limits of the escalation in the rivalry between Turkey and Iran on Syria? Turkey and Iran’s preferences in Syria were reflections of the government systems they wanted to have in their own countries. The conflicting perspectives were not likely to be reconciled by pragmatic concerns. The confrontation was part of a larger domestic transformation of Iran and Turkey under the influence of the Arab Spring.