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Turkey-Iran Relations, 1979-2004: Revolution, Ideology, War, Coups, and Geopolitics

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With this book Robert Olson has offered an in-depth analysis of the Turkish-Iranian relations between 1997 and 2004, from a diplomatic, geopolitical and economic point of view. Olson sheds light on the effects of all the relevant events that shaped the Turkey-Iran relations. He further analyzes the changes that occur from these events (changing political and economic relations between Turkey and Israel, the US, Azerbaijan, the Kurdish groups in Northern Iraq and between Iran and Azerbaijan, Russia, other Kurdish groups in Iraq as well as the PKK; to name a few) on the balance of power the two countries are struggling for in the Middle-East and the Caucasus.

A very relevant read if you want to gain a deeper understanding in the relations of these two countries, back then, but also nowadays.

Robert Olson has written the first book detailing the tumultuous history and politics of the relationship between Iran and Turkey during the past quarter of a century. This study discusses the impact of Iran's Islamic revolution, its militant ideology, the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and the affect of these developments on its relations with Turkey and the two countries' geopolitical rivalry in the Middle East, the Caucasus, the Caspian countries and the Central Asian region.

Turkey's military coups in 1980 and 1997, the waning of the ideology of Kemalism and Ankara's war with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) are among issues discussed that affected Turkey's relations with the Islamic Republic. The study stresses those issues that were of vital concern to the sovereignty and national security of each state: the transnational and domestic aspects of Kurdish nationalism, the growth of nationalist movements in Kurdistan-Iraq and Azerbaijan Iran and the Islamist question. The author emphasizes that, in addition to the Palestine-Israel conflict, the significance of the oil and gas resources of the Middle East and the U.S. and British occupation of Iraq, relations between Turkey and Iran are vital to understanding the politics of the Middle East and the future of the region.

Borrowed this from the library, it's pretty dry academic stuff. In the end, I skimmed through it rather than read in detail. Not exactly light reading but if you're into the regional politics, it'd be useful stuff.

About the Author: Robert Olson is Professor of Middle East and Islamic History at the University of Kentucky where he is University Research Professor. Professor Olson was selected as the Kirwan Memorial Prize Professor in 1999-2000 and Distinguished Professor of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2000-2001. He is the author of

The Siege of Mosul and Ottoman-Persian Relations, 1718-1743:

A Study of Rebellion in the Capital and War in the Provinces of the Ottoman Empire (1975);

The Ba'th and Syria: From the French Mandate to the Era of Hafiz al-Asad (1982);

The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion: 1880-1925 (1989);

Imperial Meanderings and Republican By-Ways: Essays on Eighteenth Century Ottoman and Twentieth Century History of Turkey (1986),

The Kurdish Question and Turkish-Iranian Relations: From World War to 1998 (1998), and

Turkey's Relation with Iran, Syria, Israel, and Russia (2001).

He is the editor of The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in the 1990s: Its Impact on Turkey and the Middle East(1996); coeditor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Societies: A Festschrift in Honor of Professor Wadie Jwaideh (1987); Orientalism, Islam and Islamists (1984); coeditor of Iran: A Revolution in the Making (1980).

Several of Professor Olson's books have been translated into Arabic, Persian and Turkish.