Explains Why Turkey Embraced The Arab Spring Despite The Risk Both Domestically And Internationally.turkey''s Enthusiastic Embrace Of The Arab Spring Set In Motion A Dynamic That Fundamentally Altered Its Relations With The United States, Russia, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, And Iran, And Transformed Turkey From A Soft Power To A Hard Power In The Tangled Geopolitics Of The Middle East. Birol Baskan And Mer Taspinar Argue That The Ruling Justice And Development Party''s (akp) Islamist Background Played A Significant Role In The Country''s Decision To Embrace The Uprisings And The Subsequent Foreign Policy Direction The Country Has Pursued. They Demonstrate That Religious Ideology Is Endogenous To-shaping And In Turn Being Shaped By-turkey''s Various Engagements In The Middle East.