A comparative study of the foreign policy of Türkiye and Saudi Arabia in response to the unrest in Iraq (2011-2022)

After the fall of Saddam and the removal of the Baath party from the political structure of Iraq, the created vacuum provided the ground for regional competition, and the regional powers have sought to manage the political dynamics of Iraq in line with their strategic interests. The Arab Spring and its expansion led to an increase in regional rivalries in Iraq. In this regard, the two important regional powers that played a key role in the political developments of Iraq, along with the Islamic Republic of Iran, were Turkey and Saudi Arabia. In fact, regional developments provided the basis for increasing the influence of these two actors in Iraq. In this regard, considering the importance of the subject of this research, it seeks to answer this central question with a comprehensive approach; Turkey and Saudi Arabia after the Arab unrest and its spread to Iraq, what policy have they had towards the political developments in Iraq? The research findings are based on this; The spread of unrest in Iraq led to the creation of opportunities for two regional actors, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, by targeting target communities in Iraq in order to increase political influence in Iraqi equations in competition with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The research method in this descriptive-analytical research is based on qualitative method and data collection method from library and internet sources.