The crisis of " Turkish model " (original) (raw)

The so-called " turkish model" was called into question as a possible role model for the Arab countries affected by the riots of 2011. This reignited the debate on the importance and promotion of the Turkish model. Turkish model is the result of a long political, economic and social changing process. The combination of modernism and traditionalism, secularism and Islamism, and its dual Western and Eastern orientations is unique to Turkey. The aim of the current paper is to provide an analysis of the conceptual debate on Turkey's role as a model. Describe the different stages of its popularity, focalizing on the Arab Spring. During the 2000's Turkey emerged with new foreign perspective aimed at multiplying relations in the fields of tourism, economy, energy and regional security. This new strategy increased the positive opinion of Turkey in the Arab world and also the possibility for the EU to increase its policy in the Middle East. The good relations with all the neighbors and its global powers, based on policies of zero-problems, are ending quickly. In fact, in the conclusions I analyze the Turkey's changes in the international arena: the new isolation and Erdoğan's authoritarianism; evident during Gezi-protest in 2013. They made stagger the concept of Turkish model. Is Turkey still a model country for the middle east?