Turkey's foreign policy and realism (2002-2010). (c2011)

Abstract

Turkey has always played a prominent role in drawing the history of the Middle East. However, with the rise of the secular Turkish Republic under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923, Turkey chose to turn to the West to build its strategic alliances. In this context, Turkey’s foreign policy makers were interested, throughout the Cold War, in consolidating their relations with the western countries in general, the USA specifically, without forgetting Turkey’s relations with Israel. This approach in foreign policy did not change despite the end of the Cold War, the changes of many political and geographic conditions, and the emergence of new challenges and opportunities. The turning point in Turkey’s foreign policies took place in 2002, with the advent of the “Party of Justice and Development” into power when it was asked to form the government after its success in the parliamentary elections. This party, with its Islamic background, drew a new scene in the state’s policies; especially in the field of foreign policy as based on the “Historical Depth Strategy”, mainly with its current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Ahmet Davutoğlu. This strategy led to a remarkable openness to the Islamic and Arab worlds, especially to neighboring states. To understand the behavior of the party governing Turkey since 2002, one needs to study the AKP's background, its political behavior especially in the field of international relations, its work for Turkey’s best interests, especially in economic and security fields, in addition to maintaining the state’s strength and power in different other fields, and building alliances to improve Turkey’s position and provide it with an effective role in the international system. The very diversity of Turkey’s foreign policy under AKP calls for a systematic school of thought to explain the party's practices and in this context, the Realist Theory rises to the occasion. Hence, this theory and the behavior of the AKP in foreign policy will be studied in this thesis, in an attempt to understand the basis of Turkey’s foreign policy today, the path of this policy, as well as the potential benefit for all those working in the field of international relations.