Turkey S Foreign Policy Towards The Middle East

This book investigates the effects of the Arab Spring on Turkish foreign policy using a multidimensional approach that draws on a wide range of disciplines from international relations to sociology and economics. The demands for democracy that began in Tunisia, when Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in 2010, rapidly spread across the Arab Middle East and Northern Africa. In countries dominated by authoritarian regimes, a freedom and sovereignty movement led by middle-class urbanites changed the quality of politics in the region. The focus and dynamics of the Arab Spring varied across countries where large-scale demonstrations were held, such as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Jordan and Bahrain. While protests in Jordan and Bahrain had few consequences, they brought about changes in governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. After the regime in Syria exerted all its strength to stay in power, the issue gained a regional, then international, dimension. The most bloody and complicated struggle caused by the wave of changes continues in Syria, with undoubtedly serious implications for Turkish foreign policy. As a counter-stance against the status quo in the Middle East, the Arab Spring has stimulated many discussions and this has led to the emergence of new regional actors.

This volume examines contemporary political relations between Turkey and the Middle East. In the light of the Arab Uprisings of 2011, the Syria Crisis, the escalation of regional terrorism and the military coup attempt in Turkey, it illustrates the dramatic fluctuations in Turkish foreign policy towards key Middle Eastern countries, such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria and Iraq. The contributors analyze Turkey’s deepening involvement in Middle Eastern regional affairs, also addressing issues such as terrorism, social and political movements and minority rights struggles. While these problems have traditionally been regarded as domestic matters, this book highlights their increasingly regional dimension and the implications for the foreign affairs of Turkey and countries in the Middle East.

With the end of Cold War discipline the world has entered a new era. Parameters have changed; new handicaps as well as new opportunities have been created for countries. Turkey as a neighbor of former USSR, a member of NATO and located at the center of a sensitive region covered by Caucasus, Balkans and Middle East, has been affected by the end of Cold War radically. Turkey has lost some of her bargaining cards in the new era and therefore has needed new arguments. This need encouraged Turkey to take active steps in Post Cold War era. This book analyzes Turkey s relations with US, EU, Balkans, Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, China and Japan. At the same time, effects of economic crises and domestic developments on foreign policy, Turkish model in Turkish foreign policy, water conflict and Kurdish problem are analyzed as well. To conclude, it is possible to argue that although Turkey lost some of her bargaining cards in Post Cold War era, new developments pushed Turkey to the center of world politics rather then to periphery. Contributors: Meliha Benli Altunisik, Deniz Ülke Aribogan, Hüseyin Bagci, Idris Bal, Zeyno Baran, Fulya Kip Barnard, Erol Bulut, Ibrahim S. Canbolat, Saziye Gazioglu, Ramazan Gözen, Saban Kardas, H. Bülent Olcay, Cengiz Okman, Henry E. Paniev, Victor Panin, Dirk Rochtus, Faruk Sönmezoglu, Gül Turan, Ilter Turan, Mustafa Türkes, Nasuh Uslu.

The change in Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle East in the post-Cold War era is a highly debated issue, with most experts believing that Europeanization has become the driving force behind this change. This book takes the cases of Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as two important illustrations. Both cases present dynamic issues of conflict in the region and are high on Turkey's agenda in terms of its policies towards the region. Focusing on issues related to EU integration, the study examines the formation of a common foreign policy in general and a common policy towards the Middle East in particular. It also investigates decision making in Turkish foreign policy and foreign policy towards the Middle East before and after EU candidature. As such it provides valuable insights into how parties interact with each other and the way in which foreign policies can be harmonized.

Reflections on the Ataturkist origins of Turkish foreign policy and domestic linkages / Andrew Mango -- Economic issues in Turkish foreign policy / William Hale -- Turkey and the Muslim Middle East / Kemal Kirişçi -- Turkish policy toward Israel / Meliha Benli Altunişik -- Turkish policy toward the Balkans / Şule Kut -- Turkish-Russian relations: from adversity to 'virtual rapprochement' / Duygu Bazoğlu Sezer -- Turkish policy toward Central Asia and the Transcaucasus / Gareth M. Winrow -- Turkish policy toward Greece / Tozun Bahcheli -- Turkey and the Cyprus question / Clement H. Dodd -- Turkey and the European Union / Atila Eralp -- U.S.-Turkish relations / George S. Harris -- Beyond 'bridge or barrier': Turkey's evolving security relations with the West / Ian O. Lesser.

In the context of rapid developments in Turkey and its broader geopolitical environment over the past decade, this book examines and conceptualises Turkey’s changing foreign policy towards a more assertive and revisionist paradigm. More specifically it details the rhetorical and practical-political content of what is termed ‘Lausanne Syndrome’; namely, Turkey’s efforts in recent years – under the AKP government – to revise the geopolitical status quo brought about by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) in its broader neighbourhood. By employing a Neoclassical Realist theoretical framework and paying particular attention to ideational factors, the book argues that, contrary to the more widely known ‘Sèvres Syndrome’, which predicts a more cautious brand of Turkish foreign policy, the ‘Lausanne Syndrome’ is associated with a different political-ideological current and predicts a more revisionist type of foreign policy behaviour, even though it has emerged out of the same historical circumstances and been triggered by the same external geopolitical factors. The impact of the ‘Lausanne Syndrome’ on Turkey’s foreign policy behaviour is subsequently tested in four case studies from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East: Cyprus, Libya, Syria, and Iraq.

International Strategic Research Center (ISRO – USAK) proudly announces the release of the report named “Turkey’s Power Capacity in the Middle East: Limits of the Possible” which is prepared by Osman Bahadir Dincer, USAK expert on Middle Eastern affairs, and Mustafa Kutlay, USAK expert on political economy; with the contribution of top-notch academics and USAK researchers from various fields of study. The previous version of the report in Turkish was published in May and introduced to a wide range of audience, from media organs to diplomats, through a conference held in USAK seminar hall. This latter version in English aims to open a new window towards the issues at glance for international researchers as well, by enabling the reader to bypass popular qualitative speculations and have a more clear vision of the quantitative aspect of Turkey’s power projection capabilities in the Middle Eastern theatre through a tri-color prism of diplomacy, economics and soft power. The arguments about whether Turkey is a role model in the Middle East or has attained the level of an “order establishing actor” are frequently voiced in print and visual media, but no systematic empirical analysis of these claims seems to have been carried out. This study sets out to fill this gap. Turkey’s capacity as a regional power is examined empirically, with special emphasis placed on the structural components of Turkey’s growing regional influence, and on the basis of data regarding its diplomatic, economic, and soft power components. This study concludes that Turkey is a country suffering from an “expectations-capabilities gap” in the Middle East, and that until the deficiencies identified in the study are remedied, Turkey will be unable to become a regional leader.

This book represents a new conceptualization on Turkish Foreign Policy. It includes over forty chapters covering ten area-based analyses including Turkey's relations with the EU, the Middle East, Cyprus and the US, the Balkans, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, Latin America, the Far East and International Organizations.