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

The “Turkish Model” in Historical Perspective

Russia in Global Affairs, 2018

The paper studies the "Turkish model" in a comparative historical perspective from three angles: as an example of mobilization modernization; as a combination of liberal democracy and Islam; and as a de-Westernization paradigm. The focus is on the transformation of the "Turkish model" and its substantive evolution from the early 1990s to the middle of the 2010s, and on how peaks of international interest in the "Turkish model" impacted Ankara's foreign policy activities and its positioning on the international stage by Turkish elites. This approach helped to identify the factors behind periodic resurgence and transformation of the "Turkish model" and the shifting balance between the expectations of its potential recipients and Ankara's plans to use it as a foreign-policy tool. Research methodology is based on the theory of multiple modernities and the concept of symbolic interactionism in international relations. In the case of Turkey, this approach provides broader possibilities for interpreting Ankara's foreign-policy strategies and understanding the mechanisms of its relations with other countries in the Greater Middle East.

The Rise and Fall of the 'Turkish Model' in the Arab World

After the AKP gained power in 2002, Turkey’s newly assertive “zero problems with neighbors” foreign policy strategy sparked debate in the Arab Middle East. This grand strategy revealed Ankara’s ambitions as not only a regional player, but also as a democratic “model” for a liberal political system able to incorporate a strong Islamic party. Arab fascination for Turkey reached its peak between 2009 and 2010 after Prime Minister Erdoğan’s condemnation of Israel’s military operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. This, along with the Mavi Marmara incident, sparked admiration across the Arab world. Over the last few months however, Arab fascination has been severely tested and now support for the “Turkish model” appears to be waning. This is the result of apprehension over Turkey’s strategic choices in different areas such as the Syrian crisis and the events in Egypt.

The Future of the Turkish Model after the Arab Spring.docx.pdf

TAYYAR ARI, 2014

Arab Spring which was started at the beginning of 2011, affected the policies of all regional powers and global powers as well, changed all the strategic parameters and security structures in the region. As a result of this new radical changes and uncontrolled developments, Turkish appearance in the region began to change. In some circles, Turkey is no longer perceived as a proactive policy maker in the region due to Turkey's degrading relations with Syria, Iraq and fluctuating with others. According to these critical perspectives, Turkey is no longer accepted as a role model for the region, because of recent developments in Turkey and its deteriorated relations with neighbors. And it is also criticized that the Turkish government by using the Islamic approach is destabilizing the region and pursuing the new Ottomanism to control the region. However, Turkey at the last stage, by comparing with other regional models would be taken as a real alternative with internal peace process, democratic development, economic stability, modernization, engagement with the world, parliamentarian democracy, civil society, good neighbor policy with neighbors excluding Syria and Iraq as well as it is the biggest economy among the Muslim world, has historical state experience and diplomatic skill.

Turkey and the Arab World: a new equation in a changing region

Over the course of the last decade, the Republic of Turkey has started to appear more and more evident on the world's map, trumpeted its credentials as a rising power with an increasing role in several regions in the world, including the Caucasus, the Balkans and the Arab World, especially in the wake of the Arab Spring. While the Arab revolts had arguably caused an earth-shattering effect, not only in the region, but also in the whole world, they have revealed Turkey's real weight and its potentials, as well as hidden challenges. This paper tries to examine the changes in Turkish Foreign Policy under the Justice and Development Party since 2002, primarily towards the Arab World and Israel. It will also analyze the various theories dovetailed with Turkey's new

Turkish Foreign Policy in the Middle East After the Arab Spring

The social and political earthquake that has shaken the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at the end of the 2010 has completely changed the political landscape of the region. In terms of both domestic politics and geopolitics. Among the countries of the Middle East, Turkey it has been one of the most affected by the so-called Arab Spring, due to the important influence that it had acquired after the emergence of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) as the ruling party of Turkey. The paper focuses on Turkish foreign policy and on how the Arab Spring has changed it. In the introduction an account will be given to describe what happened in the region from the 2010 until today. Then, in the first part of the analysis it will be addressed the historical position of Turkey in the region and the limits of its Middle Eastern politics due to various structural factors (USSR, PKK and domestic political instability), at least until the 2000s. After that, it will be described Turkish foreign policy right before the uprisings. The second part will be the bulk of the analysis, in which it will be described the major changes in the stance of Turkey in the MENA, after the Arab Spring. At the end we will see that through the lens of a “short run” analysis the position of Turkey in the Middle East seems to be now compromised. While with a “long term” perspective, given the instability of the new polities emerged after the uprisings, the foreign policy adopted by AKP to face the Arab Spring could turn out to be good for Turkish position in the MENA.

The "Turkish Model" in Historical Perspective from integration with Europe to de-Westernization

Shlykov P. V. The “turkish model” in historical perspective // Russia in Global Affairs. — 2018. — Vol. 16, no. 2. — P. 34–59., 2018

The paper studies the "Turkish model" in a comparative historical perspective from three angles: as an example of mobilization modernization; as a combination of liberal democracy and Islam; and as a de-Westernization paradigm. The focus is on the transformation of the "Turkish model" and its substantive evolution from the early 1990s to the middle of the 2010s, and on how peaks of international interest in the "Turkish model" impacted Ankara's foreign policy activities and its positioning on the international stage by Turkish elites. This approach helped to identify the factors behind periodic resurgence and transformation of the "Turkish model" and the shifting balance between the expectations of its potential recipients and Ankara's plans to use it as a foreign-policy tool. Research methodology is based on the theory of multiple modernities and the concept of symbolic interactionism in international relations. In the case of Turkey, this approach provides broader possibilities for interpreting Ankara's foreign-policy strategies and understanding the mechanisms of its relations with other countries in the Greater Middle East.

Turkey: A Pivotal Exemplary State

Turkey is a successor state to the Ottoman Empire, one of the largest and longest Empires in history. Yet, the Empire was never accepted as equal to the Western powers even though it was part of the Concert of Europe. It might be said that present-day Turkey has also been experiencing similar identity problems. This is one of the main impetuses which leads Turkey to strive to become one of the regional powers in order to cope with those problems and to become an indispensable ally to the Western countries, especially the United States of America (USA). Although Turkey stands at the crossroads of Asia and Europe and this geographical positioning highlights its desire to become one of the regional powers, since the late Ottoman era Turkey has not been able to turn into a genuine world power. Since the late Ottoman Era, Turkey has turned its face toward the West as it has been perceived as the source of modernity. Even though to some extent, Turkey has managed to modernise itself and caught up with the West, it remained a small power until the end of the 1990s. In 1999, Turkey’s accession to the G-20, whose membership consists of systematically important advanced and emerging economies representing all regions of the globe, was a significant development to being among the top twenty important states. Along with the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) active Foreign Policy Course after 2002, it might be alleged that Turkey has become considered one of the middle powers and an exemplary model for Muslim countries. There once was a “barrier” around Turkey with Soviet Communism and then it became a “bridge” between Europe and the Middle East, even Central Asia. Now it is considered as an exemplary model for Muslim countries by some, others allege that Turkey is a pivotal state since 2002. On this account, this paper will put forward that Turkey a pivotal exemplary state by examining the foreign policy understanding of AK Party.