The revisiting the conceptual and theoretical foundations of Turkish foreign policy (original) (raw)

Constructing Turkish Foreign Policy: From the "Grand Strategy" to the "Strategic Depth"

New Middle Eastern Studies, 2024

The Grand Strategy in the conventional Turkish foreign policy has been built on the defensive, secularism/security-based, pro-status quo and Western-oriented pillars while rejecting the Ottoman legacy since 1923. The Kemalist elite holding power in many institutions defined Turkey's place strictly in the Western bloc in line with their identity, ideology, and quest to modernize and industrialise the country during the Cold War. However, from the 1980s onwards, several dynamics have opened new windows for change in both domestic and international politics including economic liberalisation, end of global bipolarity, new governmental initiatives abroad, de-securitization, democratization, and Europeanization. The JDP (Justice and Development Party) came to power in 2002, set a new orientation, goals, priorities, and tools for foreign policy within the guideline of the Strategic Depth Doctrine. An identity and ideology-driven, Middle Eastern-oriented, and pro-active foreign policy fuelling from the aspirations to utilize the Ottoman legacy to make Turkey a leading geopolitical actor in regional and global affairs was pursued until the collapse of the vision with the 2011 Arab Spring. In this article, firstly the characteristics of the conventional Turkish foreign policy and the factors that have constructed it, then the transition period, and finally the radical shift in JDP's first decade will be critically assessed.

The continuity and change in Turkish Foreign Policy during the JDP governments

Przeglad Strategiczny, 2014

Justice andDevelopmentParty‘s (JDP’s)foreignpolicywhichhasbeenformulated by AhmetDavutoðlu canbedescribedasaneclecticandpragmaticforeignpolicyof a “tradingstate”1 with someideologicalandrhetoricalcolours.Thispolicyatdiscursive level referstothegloriousOttomanpast,religiousandculturallinkagesofTurkeywith the Muslimworldandtheex-OttomangeographyspanningfromNorthAfricatoMiddle EastandtotheBalkans.2 It describesAfrica,AsiaandLatinAmericaasnewfields of interest.Atpracticallevel,thispolicyisbasedonaclosecooperationwiththeglobal hegemon US.ItwasaggressivelytargetingtheEUmembershipbutlaterlowereddown its tempermostlyduetothereluctanceoftheEUsideand de facto impracticability and un-sustainability ofworkingforaquickmembership.Establishinganddeveloping good relationswithRussiahasalsobeentargetedwiththispolicy.Thispolicyisalso based onarhetoricalcriticismoftheforeignpoliciesofpreviousTurkishgovernments with dogmatismandwesternorientedideologicalblindness.

TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY DURING JDP ERA: REGIONAL COEXISTENCE AND GLOBAL COOPERATION

TAYYAR ARI, 2021

The key factor in writing the book is to answer the question “where is Turkey going?”. In this context, understanding the cultural, geopolitical, economic, and ideological factors shaping Turkey’s foreign policy from the past to the present will contribute to answering that question and eliminating the uncertainties about Turkey’s direction. The authors contributing to this study analyze the period in question in great detail. We think this book, prepared by estimable academics and experts in the field, will open new horizons for the people, researchers, academics and students who are interested in Turkey’s foreign policy. We sincerely thank everybody who contributed to the formation of the book with their work, especially to the authors. We also thank Peter- Lang publishing group for their efforts in preparing the printing diligently and publication of the book.

MAKING SENSE OF TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY: WHAT CAN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY OFFER

The Review of International Affairs, 2021

State identity not only defines how elite decision-makers, as well as the informed public, identify their governmental affiliation but also informs the actions of the policymakers in the conduct of their foreign policy. There are numerous studies dealing with the role of ideas, identity and norms in international relations by scholars belonging to the constructivist school of thought in International Relations Theory. This study purports to offer such a constructivist analysis of Turkish foreign policy behaviour based on the gradual change of Kemalist state identity from a secular Western-oriented identity to that of a religious-based affiliation under the current Justice and Development Party (2002-2020). While realist variables are significant for explicating major events of Republican Turkey, such as its alignment with the United States after World War II, Turkey's policy decisions towards Cyprus and the Turkic republics of the former Soviet Union cannot be explained by purely materialist factors. For an adequate understanding of these policies, we need to resort to analytical eclecticism employing both realist and constructivist variables for a more sophisticated analysis of Turkey's foreign relations. When it comes to the JDP government, however, constructivist variables trump realist explanations as Turkish foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, has been clouded and shaped by an Islamically-framed Weltanschauung.

TurkishForeign Policy Under the Regime of JDP

Undoubtedly, Foreign Policyis comprehended as the administration plans, including the strategies, objectives, desires and tools of national policy-designersreacting to both the present and the coming time global environsof the country.As this environment is outside the purview of domestic policy-designers, the objectives engaged and the methods utilized in the external policy will normally vary from those established in domestic one(Haugom, 206). Certainly, the contiguousground, lake and continental basin encompassingTurkey establishes the locationcentrality, and historically covers the regions, where the primaryroot of the historical background of mankind was shaped (Aslan and Eralmac, 7). Clearly, Turkey is a focal nation, blessed with multiple identities and an area at the core of Eurasia, (Europe and Asia). These identities grant a multidimensional external policy that tries to avert privileging one relationship over another. Turkey's associations with thestates of Balkans, Central Asia, and even Middle East. Beingthenormalinheritor of the Ottoman Empire that brought together the Islamic world, Turkey consequently contendsto turn into a Muslim regional power. For the most part, Turkey gives security and steadiness for itself as well as its neighboring areas. Turkey-somewhat ensures its very own security and steadiness by taking on an increasingly dynamic, valuable role to give orders, security and stabilityin its environs" (Ulgen, 5). This paper will discuss the proactive diplomacy of the ExternalStrategy of Turkeyunder the administration of the Justice and Development Faction, JDP's ExternalPolicy performing the notion of Strategic Profundity, the plan of Zero Issues with adjacent states, and the position of the Arab World in The External Policy of Ankara, and its attitudes towards Arab Spring.

Turkish Foreign Policy; Old Problems, New Parameters

2010

Turkish foreign policy has undergone an overarching change in recent years. The first decade of the twenty-first century has seen a transformation of Turkey into a cooperative and conciliatory neighbor and wiling international partner. The activism of the former president Turgut Ozal during the early 1990s, focusing on economic cooperation was followed, in late 1990s, by the then foreign minister, Ismail Cem, who focused on Turkey’s immediate neighborhood to create a ring of friendly countries around Turkey. Yet the current transformation is culminated with the rise of AKP government and especially its current foreign minister, Ahmet Davudoglu, into power. This book assesses that transformation and presents its background as well as its current form.

Turkish Foreign Policy in 2007-2009: Continuity or Change?

gradually began to implement a new foreign policy model which arose at the turn of the 21 st century. This policy is consistent with the "strategic depth" doctrine authored by Ahmet Davutoğlu, adviser to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and, since May 2009, minister of foreign affairs. Its essence lies in the use of Turkey's geostrategic position and its historical experience going as far back as the Ottoman Empire to conduct a multipronged foreign policy.

A Dictionary of Turkish Foreign Policy in the AK Party Era: A Conceptual Map

This study aims to describe the foreign policy discourses and practices which have seen wide use in the era of the Justice and Development Party (the AK Party). Given the fact that concepts do not emerge independently of their historical context, this study argues that the AK Party government’s foreign policy can be analysed through the dominant concepts that have been used. The study also argues that what is “new” in the AK Party’s foreign policy can be understood by looking at the new concepts and conceptual changes that have occurred in that era. One of the foundational objectives of the study is to outline Turkish foreign policy in the AK Party era by bringing together pertinent concepts and assembling a dictionary of these concepts. Most of the concepts in this study have been defined in the way that they have been used by foreign policy makers, independent of their academic meanings. Lastly, this study has not ordered the concepts in any way to give special meaning or to show importance.

Special Issue on Turkish Foreign Policy

New Perspectives on Turkey, 2009

CONTENTS - NEW PERSPECTIVES ON TURKEY, VOLUME 40 Editors’ Intro.: Special issue on Turkish Foreign Policy by Mustafa Aydın & Kemal Kirişci Globalization, modernity and democracy: In search of a viable domestic polity for a sustainable Turkish foreign policy - E. Fuat Keyman The transformation of Turkish foreign policy: The rise of the trading state - Kemal Kirişçi Public choice and foreign affairs: Democracy and international relations in Turkey - Ersin Kalaycıoğlu Facing its Waterloo in diplomacy: Turkey's military in the foreign policy-making process - Gencer Özcan Securing Turkey through western-oriented foreign policy - Pınar Bilgin Reconstructing Turkish-American relations: Divergences versus convergences - Mustafa Aydın The role of temporality and interaction in the Turkey-EU relationship - Atila Eralp Worldviews and Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East - Meliha Benli Altunışık Turkey and Eurasia: Frontiers of a new geographic imagination - Bülent Aras and Hakan Fidan Multiplying vectors: A framework for maximizing Turkey's freedom in formulating and implementing foreign policy - İlter Turan Turkish foreign policy: Limits of engagement - Ahmet O. Evin