Following the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, Turkey's foreign policy underwent a dramatic ideological shift from a doctrine of "zero problems with neighbors" to active, interventionist regional hegemony. Under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Ankara began systematically projecting power across the Middle East and North Africa. This ambitious strategy relied heavily on sponsoring, financing, and militarily equipping political Islamist movements, specifically those aligned with the transnational Muslim Brotherhood network. By positioning itself as the patron and pioneer of a revolutionized Middle East, Turkey sought to challenge traditional regional powers and establish a dominant neo-Ottoman sphere of influence. This calculated exportation of Islamism fundamentally reshaped the geopolitical landscapes of Libya, Syria, and Tunisia, leaving lasting security implications for democratic states and regional stability.
The Roots of Ankara's Neo-Ottoman Doctrine
The ideological foundations of Turkey's modern interventionism are deeply rooted in the concept of Milli Gorus, a pan-Islamist movement founded in the late 1960s by Necmettin Erbakan. This doctrine rejects secular nationalism in favor of unifying the Muslim world under Turkish leadership, viewing Western influence and Zionism with intense hostility. When the AKP arose from this movement and consolidated power in the early 2000s, it initially masked its Islamist ambitions under a pro-European Union, moderate reformist agenda. However, the political vacuums created by the 2011 Arab Spring provided Ankara with a historic opportunity to implement its latent pan-Islamist vision. Turkish foreign policy makers began describing the nation as the natural heir to the Ottoman Empire, asserting a duty to lead and unify the region.
In pursuit of this geopolitical vision, Turkish policymakers identified the Muslim Brotherhood as the ideal vehicle for expanding their regional footprint. The Brotherhood's populist Islamist model mirrored the AKP’s own political identity, creating a symbiotic partnership between Ankara and local Islamist branches. Consequently, Turkey transformed itself into a major diplomatic, financial, and logistical hub for exiled Islamist leaders, media outlets, and political operatives from across the Arab world. By leveraging its growing economic power and military capabilities, Turkey sought to install and defend friendly Islamist regimes along its borders and across the Mediterranean. This aggressive strategy marked a permanent departure from Turkey’s traditional status as a status-quo-oriented NATO member, steering the nation toward unilateral military interventions.
Key Turkish Interventions in Support of Islamist Proxies
- Military Mobilization in Syria: Beginning in 2011, Turkey provided extensive logistical, material, and financial assistance to various Syrian rebel factions attempting to overthrow the Assad regime. By 2016, Ankara launched direct military incursions—such as Operations Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, and Peace Spring—deploying Turkish troops alongside Syrian Islamist militias. The majority of these proxy forces, organized under the banner of the Syrian National Army, were heavily dominated by Muslim Brotherhood elements and radical Sunni groups.
- Direct Combat Intervention in Libya: In late 2019, Turkey signed military cooperation and maritime agreements with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), which was heavily influenced by the Justice and Construction Party, a local Muslim Brotherhood affiliate. To defend this faction against the rival Libyan National Army, Turkey deployed advanced combat drones, military advisers, and thousands of Turkish-paid Syrian mercenaries. This intervention successfully secured the Islamist-aligned government in Tripoli and granted Turkey a long-term military presence in North Africa, which was subsequently extended through 2028.
- Subversion and Financial Aid in Tunisia: Following the 2011 revolution, Turkey forged close ties with the Ennahda movement, Tunisia's primary Islamist party led by Rached Ghannouchi. Ankara provided the Ennahda-led government with security assistance, state-of-the-art military equipment, and financial loans to help consolidate the party's control over the state apparatus. When Tunisian President Kais Saied suspended the Islamist-dominated parliament in 2021, Turkey fiercely condemned the move as an illegitimate blow to democratic governance, attempting to shield its ideological allies from domestic political backlash.
Geopolitical Analysis of Turkish Proxy Warfare
Ankara's interventions in Syria, Libya, and Tunisia represent a coordinated effort to establish a network of client states aligned with Turkey's ideological and economic interests. In Syria, the deployment of Islamist proxies served the dual purpose of countering Kurdish autonomy and installing a Sunni Islamist regime in Damascus. According to a detailed study by the Institute for National Security Studies, the post-Arab Spring regional developments compelled Turkey to redefine its relationship with the region, utilizing proxy militias as an extension of its sovereign military power. This proxy strategy allowed Turkey to minimize its own domestic casualties while maintaining significant geopolitical leverage over major European migration routes and territorial borders.
In Libya, Turkey’s support for the Tripoli government was driven by both ideological solidarity and maritime ambitions in the Eastern Mediterranean. By securing a pliant Islamist government in Tripoli, Ankara negotiated a controversial maritime boundary agreement that ignored Greek and Cypriot sovereignty, attempting to disrupt regional energy projects. Research published by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies demonstrates how Turkey has evolved into a safe haven and operational base for various extremist and Muslim Brotherhood elements, facilitating financing schemes and providing diplomatic protection for designated individuals. Similarly, Turkey's support for Tunisia's Ennahda movement aimed to preserve a critical ideological ally in North Africa, although this effort was severely curtailed by local political resistance. As documented in reports by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Ennahda's close alignment with Turkey often alienated domestic coalition partners, deepening political polarization and ultimately leading to the movement's marginalization.
Implications for Israel and Regional Stability
The systemic export of political Islam by the Turkish state poses direct, multi-layered challenges to the national security of the State of Israel and its regional allies. Turkey’s active backing of Muslim Brotherhood affiliates has directly translated into sustained support for Hamas, which maintains a substantial operational and diplomatic presence in Istanbul. This support has enabled Hamas to orchestrate terror finance networks and direct operations against Israeli targets from Turkish soil. Furthermore, Turkey’s aggressive maritime assertions in the Mediterranean threaten Israel’s offshore gas infrastructure and its strategic partnerships with Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt. As long as Ankara prioritizes ideological alignment with regional Islamist proxies over its international treaty obligations, Turkey will remain a destabilizing force that complicates efforts to build a moderate, prosperous Middle East.