Turkey And Transatlantic Relations

This edited volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the transformations in Turkey's transatlantic connection including political, economic, and security relations. The book concentrates on the question of how these transformations in conjuction with several other factors are reflected over Turkey's foreign policy behavior and new alignment preferences. Contributors especially delve into regional affairs of Turkey seeking to show how the transatlantic frame alternatively impact Turkey's policies in different neighborhoods, arguing that Turkish foreign policy cannot be understood without careful analysis of multiple international pressures and changing dynamics at the domestic political scenery.

Turkey’s position in transatlantic alliances goes back in the 1950s. Turkish Foreign Policy “Fresh Look” was launched just prior to the failed coup d’etat last July, and was intended to mend ties with its neighbors with whom Turkey has strained relationships. Turkey’s new pragmatic reconciliation policy strives to build bridges without damaging existing transatlantic alliance. The goal of developing good relations with its neighbors that surround the Mediterranean and the Black sea, presents Turkey with a number of challenges. Turkey is seen as a bridge between West and East due to its geographic location. This volume intends to shed more light into past, present and future Turkey-Transatlantic relations, focusing on a history of Turkey-Transatlantic relations, the impact of current developments in Turkey and its neighbors, and Turkish domestic and foreign policies in Transatlantic relations. Authors include: Hülya Kevser Akdemir, Serdar Altay, Altay Atlı, Enes bayraklı, Münevver Cebeci, Filiz Cicioğlu, Şükrü Cicioğlu, İsmail Çağlar, Beril Dedeoğlu, Mehmet Uğur Ekinci, Emre Erşen, Tea Ivanovic, Donald N. Jensen, Edward P. Joseph, Kılıç Buğra Kanat, Erdal Tanas Karagöl, Christina Lin, Jennifer Miel, Nona Mikhelidze, Çiğdem Nas, Aslı Şirin Öner, Yonca Özer, Nicolò Sartori, Merve Seren, Eduard Soler i Lecha, Melike Janine Sökmen, Sasha Toperich, Aylin Ünver Noi, Alida Vračić, and Murat Yerlitaş

For decades the partnership between North America and Europe has been a steady anchor in a world of rapid change. Today, however, the transatlantic partnership itself has become unsettled and uncertain. Nowhere is this clearer than in the economic sphere. Nonetheless, the European Union and the United States remain each other’s largest and most profitable markets. And as Europe changes, extended value chains across non-EU Europe have become important to the bottom line of many companies from the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world. Given both the danger of fragmentation and opportunities that exist for deeper economic interaction, it is time to consider new initiatives that include, but go beyond the U.S.-EU partnership to embrace allies and partners across the entire North Atlantic space. The concept of the North Atlantic Marketplace would include non-EU European countries in a broad North Atlantic commercial architecture. Turkey’s evolving commercial ties to the EU and the United States are central to such considerations. In this book, leading experts develop possible ways forward to anchor Turkey in the West by further deepening economic ties between Turkey and its transatlantic partners in the North Atlantic Marketplace.

The relationship between Turkey and the United States is complicated because of differing core purposes and somewhat differing memberships, i.e., NATO and the European Union. Current Turkey-U.S. diplomatic and military relations are strained, but both countries recognize how vital it is to address issues of mutual importance. In mid-2007 the Atlantic Council, Strategic Studies Institute, and German Marshall Fund of the United States jointly organized a conference to discuss the current state of U.S.-Turkish-EU ties and to consider how those relations might be repaired and enhanced. This conference report provides an overview of the enduring issues that must be addressed if Turkey-U.S. relations are to move beyond current roadblocks and begin to realize their full potential. Since this conference took place, the political environment in Turkey has changed, and several of the issues, such as the use of Iraq as a staging area by Kurdish insurgents, have continued to evolve. Such dynamics reveal the importance of the ideas surfaced in each of the conference presentations and the need to continue addressing the issues identified.

Since the end of the Cold War, and especially following the US decision to invade Iraq, the once strong partnership between the US, Canada, and the European allies has faced the serious possibility of significant change, or even dissolution. At the very least, fundamental differences have emerged in the ways that many of the partners, perceive the issues that are most important to them—from perceptions of the threat of terrorism and attitudes to the use of force, to expectation about the future nature of the NATO Alliance—and in the ways in which those perceptions have become translated into policy decisions. In this book, experts from both sides of the Atlantic seek to explain why there has been so much divergence in the approach the various countries have taken. And it seeks to raise questions about what those divergent paths might mean for the future of transatlantic relations.

Describes the impact on Turkey of events in Europe since 1989, the transformation of the country's place in the international order, domestic and foreign policy changes in response, and changes in the country's identity. Considers the new European order, the cultural dilemma, the troubled region, relations with the European Union, and the Customs Union. Distributed in the US by St. Martin's Press. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Security is a major contemporary concern, with foreign and security policies topping the agenda of many governments. At the centre of Western security concerns is Turkey, due to its geographical proximity to converging major fault lines such as the Caucasus, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. As trans-Atlantic debates evolve around these major fault lines, future relations will have a direct impact on the re-orientation of Turkish foreign and security policies. This comprehensive study focuses on the future of Turkish foreign and security policies within the emerging strategies of the two Wests. Discussing the challenges Turkey has been facing since the turn of the century, it examines Turkish foreign policy in the context of trans-Atlantic relations - as a global actor, and with respect to conflict, new power relations, energy security, Greece, Cyprus and the environment.

Since World War II, the relationship between Turkey and the United States has been characterized by complexity and flux; there have been periods of remarkable cooperation, even when significant disagreements existed. Relations between the two countries are never merely bilateral, for the two are also linked to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). The relationship between those two organizations is also complicated because of differing core purposes and somewhat differing memberships. Current Turkey-U.S. diplomatic and military relations are more strained than in recent years, but both countries recognize how vital it is to address issues of mutual importance.In mid-2007 the Atlantic Council, Strategic Studies Institute, and German Marshall Fund of the United States jointly organized a conference to discuss the current state of U.S.-Turkish-EU ties and to consider how those relations might be repaired and enhanced. Participants included an impressive collection of diplomats, academics, and policy analysts with extensive knowledge and relevant experience. This conference report provides an overview of the enduring issues that must be addressed if Turkey-U.S. relations are to move beyond current roadblocks and begin to realize their full potential. Since the conference that served as the basis of this report took place, the political environment in Turkey has changed, and several of the issues, such as the use of Iraq as a staging area by Kurdish insurgents, have continued to evolve. Such dynamics reveal the importance of the ideas surfaced in each of the conference presentations and the need to continue addressing the issues identified. Such work should prove valuable to policymakers of both countries in their efforts to improve this vital relationship.