Challenges of Multidimensional Diplomacy in Interstitial Spaces: Turkey Confronting Diverse Borderlanders on its Arab-Kurdish Borderland

The Turkey–Iraq–Syria border stretches over 1,174 km (352 km with Iraq and 822 km with Syria). Over the three past decades, this southern frontier has not only marked the limits between neighboring states but has also hosted a wide range of actors, including rebel groups, autonomous administrations and external interventionist powers. These borderlands reflect a coexistence that generates multiple spatial configurations beyond the traditional state framework, such as buffer zones, secured enclaves, autonomous regions, contested areas, and separation walls.The Arab–Kurdish border of Turkey provides a vantage point from which to observe these dynamics on three levels. First, at the level of Turkey’s immediate neighborhood, Ankara must engage with multiple actors beyond its formal ties with Iraq and Syria. Second, at the regional level, the broader Kurdish space structures how Turkey manages the Kurdish issue within and beyond its borders. Third, at the international level, Ankara must contend with regional and external powers operating beyond its Iraqi and Syrian frontiers.This article bridges border studies and post-bipolar foreign policy approaches – especially multicentric diplomacy – arguing that interstitial spaces emerge from relational dynamics co-produced by Turkey’s practices and the strategies of multiple actors involved.