Americano What role will Turkey play in the Iran conflict?
18 snips
Mar 4, 2026 Owen Matthews, Spectator writer and Russia correspondent with expertise on Turkey and regional geopolitics, offers a brisk tour of Turkey–Iran ties. He discusses whether Iran aimed at Turkey and Ankara’s fear of renewed Kurdish uprisings. He maps Kurdish factions as proxy forces, compares past regime-change blowback, and explains why Turkey’s pragmatic regional influence differs from Iran’s ideological approach.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Turkey Keeps Pragmatic Iran Links Despite Tensions
- Turkey maintains pragmatic ties with Iran across oil, gas and intelligence despite recent missile incursion into Hatay airspace.
- Owen Matthews argues it would be suicidal for Iran to attack Ankara because Turkey is an honest broker with deep economic links.
Proxy Plans To Use Kurds Deeply Worry Turkey
- U.S. and Israel reportedly consider arming Iranian Kurds as a proxy lever against Tehran, which deeply alarms Ankara.
- Matthews highlights Turkey's 35-year war with Kurdish insurgents and the political power of pro-Kurdish parties inside Turkey.
Kurdish Foot Soldiers Fit A Risky Regime Change Playbook
- The reported U.S. plan would use Kurdish forces to engage IRGC units in Iran's west rather than march to Tehran, relying on local actors to do the heavy lifting.
- Matthews warns such proxy-driven regime-change models have repeatedly produced destabilizing blowback in Iraq, Syria and Libya.