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The main argument of this paper is that Turkey had close relations with Middle Eastern states during the Atatürk period, which is contrary to the literature that claims the opposite because of Turkey's Western-oriented ideology. The article asks why Turkey as a Western-oriented state sought to have close relations with Middle Eastern states. To answer this question, the article uses discourse analysis focusing on Middle Eastern leaders' visits as represented in Turkish public discourse. Accordingly, it proposes two main answers. Firstly, the paper argues that the new state's relations with Middle Eastern countries played an important role in legitimation of its Westernization projects in the eyes of its citizens. Secondly, the Turkish state marginalized rival political discourses, mainly Islamism, by proving that even Muslim majority countries wanted to imitate modern Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the first wave of migration from Turkey to North Cyprus (1975–1980), which is largely absent from existing migration literature. Through extensive oral history interviews with influential policy makers, policy implementers and opposition politicians of the period, as well as through in-depth interviews with immigrants, the complexly interwoven socio-economic and political-ideological parameters of this migratory movement is discussed. Thereby the paper endeavours to challenge the dichotomy between voluntary 'labour migrations' characterised by a predominant economic dimension, and 'ethnic migrations', which stand out due to their strong political-ideological dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World is the property of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For decades, Turkish policymakers have perceived the possible emergence of a Kurdish autonomous region or an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq as an existential threat to Turkey. However, from 2008 onwards, under the Justice and Development Party government, Turkish foreign policy towards the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was gradually desecuritized. In light of Turkey's experience, this paper explores the role of context in desecuritizing foreign policy issues in general and Turkish foreign policy towards the KRG in particular. It argues that the changing civil–military relations in Turkey as well as the country's broader political and economic conjuncture allowed for the desecuritization of Turkey-KRG relations from 2008 onwards. The context also determined what kind of a desecuritization Turkey experienced towards the KRG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper's main objective is to explain the concept of transactionalist foreign policy in detail and to demonstrate how it applies to a real-world case in Turkish foreign policy towards the EU under the AKP rule. We define transactionalism as a foreign policy approach that favours bilateral to multilateral relations, focuses on short-term wins rather than longer-term strategic foresight, adheres to a zero-sum worldview where all gains are relative and reciprocity is absent, rejects value-based policymaking, and does not follow a grand strategy. This paper also provides a new layer to the existing periodisation of AKP's EU policy through framing the EU as 'a foreign policy actor' in Turkey-EU relations. Scholars divide Turkey's EU policy under the AKP government into three broad periods: Europeanisation, selective Europeanisation and De-Europeanisation. We complement this literature by adding another layer of analysis that focuses on Turkey's foreign relations in its broader region, including the EU, and argue that Turkey's relations with the EU were characterised by the zero-problems doctrine during the selective Europeanisation period, and by civilisational competition with the EU during the de-Europeanisation period, and by transactionalism since 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the coup attempt of 2016, bilateral ties between Ankara and Tehran have witnessed a significant boost. Using and refining Steven David's framework of omni-balancing, which argues that the conduct of foreign policy in Third World settings also takes stock of domestic threats to the regime, this paper explains this emerging rapprochement. The article argues that after 2016, the AKP's foreign policy became increasingly predicated on regime survival, which was also reflected in Ankara-Tehran ties. This rapprochement was strengthened by both countries' intersecting positions on the following issues (1) A mutual pro-Qatar stance in the recent Saudi Arabia-Qatar spat, (2) Mutual opposition to a Kurdish state in northern Iraq, and (3) Increasingly troubled relations with the US. Through a careful analysis of Turkish and Persian sources along with official discourses, this paper will expand on these key aspects of these significantly improved bilateral relations between both countries and will conclude with discussion of its durability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the Europeanization of Turkey's foreign policy by examining Turkey's mediating role in the Israel–Palestine dispute. The paper assesses whether, to what extent and how the EU shaped Turkey's mediating role in the conflict. It is concluded that Turkish political actors used the EU to justify certain policies and their relations with certain actors, which would otherwise be considered unacceptable. Given its indirect impact on Turkey's mediation, the EU's role in Turkish foreign policy should not be exaggerated. There seems to be no evidence in this case that Turkish foreign policy-makers internalized EU foreign-policy norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact the European Union (EU) accession process has had on Turkish political parties—the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP)—as far as their internal structures and intra-party distribution of power are concerned. The paper contends that political parties in Turkey have not only been immune to any organizational adaptation that may have resulted from the accession process, but in the past decade, they have become increasingly de-Europeanized. This insularity from Europeanization impulses can be attributed to Turkey’s personalized political system and the ineffectiveness of the parliamentary institutions responsible for EU policy, especially the EU Harmonization Committee. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Strategic Review / Przeglad Strategiczny is the property of Faculty of Political Science & Journalism, Adam Mickiewicz University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to shed light on Turkey's conflict management role after the Cold War using a three-layered framework consisting of the layers of actorness, approaches and tools. In doing so, it seeks to profile Turkey's international conflict management since the Cold War years with a special focus on the nature of its participation in conflict management as an active or passive actor, the perspectives from which it approaches conflict management, and the conflict management instruments it utilises. First, the paper will provide a conceptual framework of international conflict management based on the above-mentioned triad of actorness, approaches and tools as derived from the existing literature. Second, it will apply the selected three-layered analytical framework to Turkey to decipher its strengths and limitations in managing international conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey's foreign policy approach towards the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been predicated on an integrationist vision through cooperation and dialogue over the past decade. The Arab Spring significantly challenged Turkey's role as a strategic interconnector and set the stage for broader debates on foreign policy orientation. This paper suggests that any fair assessment of Ankara's performance in the MENA must take into account the significant constraints imposed on Turkish foreign policy objectives by regional power rivalries and growing Western detachment from the region. The paper sheds light on the impact of global and regional powers' responses to the Arab Spring for Middle Eastern order and outlines a possible trajectory for the transformation of Turkish foreign policy to ensure effective Turkish activism in the post-Arab Spring environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses the articulation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) into Turkish foreign policy (tfp) during the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, akp) era. R2P has particularly become significant when the uprisings turned into full-scale civil wars in Libya and Syria. Therefore, this study examines tfp towards Libya and Syria in the framework of R2P. It argues that there is a close correlation between Turkey's support of R2P and recently increasing emphasis on the normative foundations of its foreign policy in general. It also discusses that Ankara has appeared as an active advocate of the norm insofar as it adopted a more ambitious policy agenda, particularly in the context of the Syrian civil war. However, this paper concludes that, due to Turkey's pragmatic approach, R2P has turned into a justification tool in the discourse of tfp makers for their regional aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exodus of around 5 million people from Syria has evolved into a transnational 'social question', requiring a transnational response. The latest Syrian assault on Idlib in February 2020, creating one of the worst humanitarian crises of this brutal civil war, brought this to the world's attention again. Highlighting the scale of this 'social question' on the eve of a Covid-19 pandemic, it shows that displaced Syrians of Idlib had been trapped between the advancing Syrian regime and Russian troops. In response, Turkey, already hosting almost 3.5 million Syrians and closing its border in 2015 to prevent a further influx, let refugees – Syrians and migrants from other countries – head for the EU. Aiming to cajole the EU into heeding its demands, Turkey linked this to its Syria cause. Once again, the latest crisis showed that Turkey had reached the limit of its capacity to absorb more Syrians. This paper deals with Turkey's response and alternatives for the most relevant stakeholder, the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Turkish faith-based NGOs have been involved in delivering humanitarian aid for two decades, the relations of these organizations with the state have not received adequate scholarly attention. The main purpose of this article is to address this gap by asking what roles NGOs play in Turkey's humanitarian aid policy and practice. Despite the relative isolation of Turkey's administrative structure as a result of a strong state tradition, this paper shows that NGOs attempt to play political roles in Turkish foreign policy. The study relies on an analytical framework derived from constructivism to examine the agenda-setting and information-providing activities of Turkish NGOs between 2004 and 2016. Based on findings from a series of semi-structured interviews with 25 respondents from nine different NGOs and three state institutions, this artilce expands the research agenda on Turkey's foreign aid and shows that NGOs function as knowledge-providers, powerful catalysts for humanitarian aid activities, and influential voices in bringing humanitarian issues to light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the rise of the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP), Islam has come to play a more prominent role in public and political spheres in Turkey. This paper draws on ethnographic data gathered in Istanbul and Diyarbakir between 2013 and 2015 to highlight Kurdish attitudes to Islam. Following the electoral success of the AKP amongst Kurds in the general election of 2007, Kurdish actors have sought to incorporate Islamic sensibilities into their political offering in order to appeal to Kurdish constituents. Amid the AKP's recent authoritarian turn and instrumentalization of religion, and the rise of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), many Kurds have sought to redefine their relationship with Islam to clearly demarcate distinctly Kurdish religious and political spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By way of tracing a number of important developments in the last decade, this paper examines Turkey's foreign policy under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party, with specific emphasis on the 'strategic depth' doctrine. More specifically, after providing a very brief overview of Turkey's foreign policy orientation between 1923 and 2002, the paper first discusses the basic principles of the 'strategic depth' doctrine and then analyzes how three main issues - Islamization of Turkish foreign policy, the Arab Spring, and the increasing discrepancy between Turkey's domestic politics and the image Turkey's leaders wanted to present to the outside world - led to the disintegration of this doctrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social Anthropology / Anthropologie Sociale is the property of Berghahn Books and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper attempts to understand the gradual "civilian" shift in Turkish foreign policy in the first decade of the 2000s through its development cooperation activities in the Africa region. To this aim, by applying the "civilian power" role concept developed by François Duchêne, it first investigates how Turkey's 1) domestic democratic and economic preconditions, 2) normative commitments, and 3) power instruments evolved throughout history to make it possible to talk about an emerging "civilian role" in Turkish foreign policy during the first decade of the 2000s. Then it looks more closely at Turkey's civilian foreign policy practice through the "development cooperation" activities of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) across Africa and specifically in Somalia throughout the 2000s. Finally the paper will question whether this specific development cooperation policy has so far been successful in constructing a credible "civilian foreign policy role" for Turkey in the Africa region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the bilateral relations between Turkey and Syria since the breakout of the popular uprising in 2011, with particular reference to a securitization–desecuritization framework. The author inquires whether Turkish policymakers have securitized the Syrian civil war and framed it in security-laden discourse in the time period under review. Turkey extended strong support to the demonstrations and invested efforts towards a regime change. Assad’s response was unfriendly. Both the Assad regime’s policy vis-à-vis Turkey and the repercussions of the civil war in Syria posed serious threats to Turkish national security. However, based on the analysis of official statements by Turkish authorities during the crisis, the author argues that Turkey avoided framing the Syrian refugee crisis in security terms, whereas border violations, such as the downing of a military aircraft by Syrian regime forces, were defined as threats to national security. The paper further discusses the reasons for Turkey’s selective approach to issues concerning bilateral relations with Syria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on understanding and explaining the changes in Turkish foreign policy, particularly in the last decade. Many observers have expressed suspicions that Turkey is abandoning its old Western-centric alignment and gradually shifting its axis. The thesis argues that rather than a shift, Turkey is taking an independent position. It maintains that the 1990 end of the Cold War and changes in the international structure from Bipolarity to U.S.-based Unipolarity have provided incentives for countries with some degree of material capabilities to pursue more independent policies from U.S. policy-preferences. This study analyses structural effects on the behavior of Turkey, followed by observed changes in Turkey's foreign policy as the outcome of taking more independent positions to maximize its objectives. Empirical research prove this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines Turkish foreign policy in the Black Sea region after the Russian annexation of Crimea. It focuses on two main issues: Turkey's policies within NATO and its balancing actions vis-a-vis Russia. The paper concludes that in spite of the sporadic Western criticism Ankara is still committed to NATO. Nonetheless, Turkey has taken only limited balancing actions to counter the Russian threat. Ankara evaluates and prioritizes threats often very differently from its Western partners, and considers certain balancing steps ineffective or too costly at a specific moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Syrian civil war exacerbated sectarian divisions between the Alawite-ruled Syrian government and Syria's Sunni population, straining also the relations between the Sunni majority and Alawite and Alevi minorities of the neighboring Turkey. The Alawites and Alevis of Turkey were predominantly supporting Syria's president Bashar al-Asad, while the Turkish government greatly supported the Sunni insurgents of Syria. The paper aims at examining how Alawites and Alevis have influenced the relations between Turkey and Syria in the light of the Syrian civil war, the reasons behind the sympathy of Alevis for the Syrian government and the implications that Turkey's Syria policy has had domestically. It finds that the Alevi / Alawite factor has had some restraining effects on Turkey's antagonistic policy towards Syria. In the introductory part, the article touches upon the differences and the similarities between Alevis and Alawites, then it analyzes the developments in regards Turkey's policy towards the Syrian crisis that were also reflected in Ankara's domestic policy vis-à-vis its Alevi and Alawite minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's new Silk Road policy, titled 'One Belt, One Road,' signals a proactive turn in China's regional policy towards Central and West Asia. The policy has two dimensions: First, China aims to revitalize the old Silk Road exchange of goods, ideas, and people with trade, energy, and transportation projects. Second, armed with these new connections, China aims to redefine the territories the old Silk Road encompasses as a region in the contemporary international system. Turkey, as one of the countries at the westernmost end of the historic Silk Road, and one of the target countries of China's new Silk Road diplomacy, welcomes the increasing economic and technological exchange with China. Establishing better contacts with China fits suitably in Turkey's new foreign policy orientation. While the foreign policies of the two countries seem to be compatible, Turkish domestic political dynamics and public opinion hinder further engagement between the two ends of the Silk Road. The negative public opinion towards China manifests itself in the form of media coverage, protests and lobbying and, at times, it derails bilateral relations. This paper assesses the prospects for bilateral relations in the light of these developments. The paper starts with a historical analysis of Sino-Turkish relations and proceeds with various dimensions of the current relations. Then, it provides an analysis of various public opinion surveys in order to grasp the nature of the Turkish public opinion towards China, and it offers a media framing analysis in order to decipher the specific ways the image of China is constructed in Turkish public opinion. The last part of the paper discusses the domestic political actors that have a role in the perceptions and policies toward China in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of breakthroughs in Iran's contentious affairs with the West necessitate a new way of thinking on Turkey–Iran relations. Hassan Rouhani's victory in the 2013 Iranian presidential elections and the signing of the interim Geneva nuclear agreement between Iran and the ‘P5+1’ shortly thereafter warrant an overhaul of the conventional policies concerning the Islamic Republic. Coupled with the Arab uprisings, recent developments will significantly impact not only the way Turkey and Iran approach each other but also their regional policies. This paper seeks to shed light on the two different modes of engagement that Turkey and Iran have employed vis-à-vis their approach to their shared neighbourhood. That is, while Turkey is positioned to utilize this breakthrough on a global scale to improve its relations with Iran and other countries through ‘humanitarian diplomacy’; on the regional level, Tehran's hegemonic and interest-based ambitions will stoke the subtle rivalry with Ankara. This paper provides a background for the origins of these two different modes of engagement and discusses how they have influenced the dynamics in the region. After pointing out how the recent developments concerning Iran's nuclear programme and engagement in certain regional conflicts shape the Ankara–Tehran dialogue, it concludes with the implications of these competitive approaches for the greater Middle East. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates to what extent mediation has been a relevant foreign policy tool during the Arab Spring by looking into the mediation attempts of Turkey, Qatar and Iran. To answer this question, the paper examines why and how these actors mediated, to what extent they were able to apply mediation as a tool of foreign policy, whether their mediation attempts could deliver any results and whether there was a receptive audience with respect to their mediation. Despite certain setbacks, mediation has been a relevant foreign policy tool during the Arab Spring. The uses of mediation by these actors run parallel to their foreign policy priorities. In addition, during the Arab Spring, mediation has proved more effective in small-scale conflicts, such as hostage crises, rather than large-scale ones, such as those between regimes and oppositions. Despite considerable potential for regional powers to take on mediator roles, the effectiveness of their mediation attempts depends on their commitment and reliability as mediators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article analyses Turkey’s responses to the Arab uprisings in the context of its larger foreign policy transformation and regional aspirations. The AKP government seized the uprisings as an opportunity to increase its influence in the region by assigning itself a central role in the transition processes in various countries. In the process, however, Turkey faced a number of setbacks and reversals. Comparing the cases of Libya, Syria, and Egypt, the paper argues that Turkey’s efforts to advance regime change in these sites were marked by inconsistency and incoherence. Furthermore, the paper argues that this trajectory of reactions can be explained only by taking both ideational and domestic factors into account. Despite the shortcomings of Turkey’s actions, however, the article concludes that Turkey has consolidated itself as a regional actor, albeit a controversial one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Trakya University Journal of Social Science is the property of Trakya University, Institute of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The "normative turn" associated with the post-Cold War order has been influential in rising states' increasing reference to normative issues like justice and fairness. Rising powers are expected to challenge the established institutions or at least attempt to revise the dominant norms of the system in order to reflect their own interests and values. This paper tentatively treats Turkey as a rising state and attempts to understand the gradual "normative shift" in Turkey's approach towards international order in the context of Turkey-UN relations over the last decade. To this aim, Turkey's normative approach towards the international order will be comparatively analyzed through the debates at the UN focusing specifically on two consecutive periods, the 1990s and the 2000s. By doing that, the paper will theoretically question and empirically analyze the extent to which Turkey took a revisionist or integrationist posture towards the international order in the UN platform over the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Vistula Scientific Quarterly / Kwartalnik Naukowy Uczelni Vistula is the property of Vistula University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper analyzes the Turkish export and import flows with regard to regional clusters (RCs) and bilateral trade costs (BTCs) by using a panel data gravity model. We study the role of RCs and BTCs in two complementary parts: in the first part, we use an unbalanced panel data for 180 countries over the period 1960–2012, compiled from the DOTS database. We extend these estimations by running the data at four different time intervals, each representing different economic or political regimes in Turkey. In the second part, we repeat the same exercise at sectoral level for 176 countries over the period 1994–2010, using the BACI database. Aggregate estimates show that the gravity model is very effective in explaining the export and import flows of Turkey and that all close-by regions, including EU27, have a significant impact on trade flows of Turkey. We also find that the EU Customs Union has a negative effect on Turkish exports and a positive effect on imports. Estimates at selected time intervals reinforce aggregate estimates and sectoral level analyses indicate that while some regions contribute positively in all or the majority of sectors, others contribute negatively or produce mixed results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Several scholars agree that Turkey applied humanitarian diplomacy as part of its global opening, a consequence of which is that it has become a medium-sized global player. However, it is still not clear what Turkey's experience teaches us regarding humanitarian diplomacy. Additionally, what is unique in Turkey's application? In order to provide an empirically-backed response to such research questions, this paper initially studies what Turkey did with humanitarian diplomacy, what Turkey's objectives were in utilizing it, and how Turkey utilized it. The article concludes by moving to debate on the implications of such an application for humanitarian diplomacy literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Georgia and Turkey has become important partners in the Caucasus region after independence of Georgia in 1991. Two countries preferred to follow pro-West policies in their foreign policy against Russian factor. They have geopolitical importance and geostrategic location for Russia throughout history. This article analyzes foreign policies of Georgia and Turkey and examines Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline as a common foreign policy between them. The paper found out that this kind of projects between Georgia and Turkey would make them important actors rising from regional level to global level in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the EU's accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Turkey to assess the conditions under which their negotiations unfolded and the role of bilateral issues in that aspect. To do so, the paper highlights the role of the member state vetoes and bilateral relations in the EU negotiations. It needs to be noted that even though the European Commission condemns the impact of bilateral problems on the accession process, unresolved bilateral issues, nonetheless, emerge as major factors complicating the EU's enlargement process, its effectiveness as well as the pace and nature of the negotiations with multiple applicants and candidates. We look at role of individual member states as veto players on the EU accession negotiations, specifically becoming the most important factor in the Turkish case. We limit our focus to the lack of consensus and commitment among the EU member states towards Turkey as a complicating factor in the EU negotiations. We are able to ascertain that a key difference between Bulgaria and Turkey with regards to their EU accession was the member state vetoes for Turkey's negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being founded in the wake of the First World War, both Turkey and the Soviet Union followed revolutionary modernizing pathways. At the outset, one could trace many similar patterns in their radical modernization paradigms; however, their development models as well as political and social orders were radically distinct, which became more obvious with the passage of time. The paper discusses the external interpretations of Kemalism by observing the Soviet perspectives on the inception and evolution of Kemalism. Paying more attention to diplomatic, geopolitical and economic complexities of the Turkish-Soviet relations, scholars have rarely problematized the Soviet Union perceptions of Turkish ideological transformations. In reality, since the early 1920s, different state institutions, intellectual schools of thought and research in the Soviet Union closely observed the domestic transformations in Turkey by providing valuable insights on the perspective and the implications of the Kemalist transformation. The article also looks at the question of how the incorporation of Soviet perspectives can enrich the historiography and our understanding of Kemalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Caucasus has attracted the interest of the neighboring powers in the post-Cold War era due to its geopolitical and geo-economic significance, as well as these powers’ deep-rooted affiliations with the peoples of the Caucasus. The current paper focuses on Russia’s and Turkey’s historical objectives in the region, how these objectives were met during the last 25 years and the debate behind the use of historical narratives as instruments of soft power. Both Moscow and Ankara felt the need for legitimizing their presence in the Southern Caucasus, where three new independent states were established after the Cold War. On the one hand, already since 1994, Moscow has been regarding the ex-Soviet republics as its “near abroad” protected by its “nuclear umbrella.” On the other hand, Turkey has never stopped to be a presence in the region under the cloak of soft power means. These means are based on the exploitation of Turkish or Islamic identity and the resulting relationships, being vigorously cultivated both by Ankara itself and various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—such as Fethullah Gülen’s Organization, which has been active until recently. The purpose of this kind of ideological construct is to strengthen Islamic and Turkish influence in the countries that are involved in the search for a new post-Soviet identity, free from the protectorate of Moscow. The correlation and blending of hard and soft power are analyzed; a number of findings are made at different levels in the context of long-term historical narratives and the desire of the participants to assert their respective geopolitical roles. The efforts of Russia and Turkey resulted in “ideological battle” around the issue of historical ties of each of the countries with the newly created states. For this reason, the core of the research is aimed at examining Russia’s and Turkey’s grand strategies with regard to the Southern Caucasus, as well as whether and how they are influenced by historical narratives. Accordingly, we are trying to examine how the rhetoric of both countries is transformed into one of the components of their power or, in other words, how it is included in the set of their strategic instruments. To this end, the author applies the multi-level theoretical analysis to the situation in the region and tries to clarify the relevant typology of historical narratives and strategic objectives of the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last several years, the political will of the governing AKP in Turkey to make the historic compromises necessary to complete the peace process with the Kurds has sharply declined. This paper will examine the causes of the breakdown in the Turkish-Kurdish peace process and the Turkish government’s lurch in a nationalist direction in its approach towards the Kurdish minority from the standpoint of ‘securitization’ theory. The key catalysts, it is argued, for the re-emergence of a securitization paradigm in Turkey’s handling of the Kurdish issue are: (1) Turkey’s stalled bid for accession to the European Union; (2) the intensifying electoral competition between AKP and the Kurdish movement parties, coupled with the instrumentalization of the Kurdish peace process to serve President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s quest to install a dominant presidential system and (3) the spillover effects of Syria’s civil war on Turkey’s relations with its own Kurdish populace. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The relation between Syria and Turkey transformed from enmity in the 1990s to détente in the early 2000s, grew into amity after the rise to power of the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP, Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi) in 2002, and reverted to enmity in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. This research suggests that a combination of structural and identity-based factors, at regional and domestic levels, induced the collapse of the decade-long amity. This paper builds on the notion of a “structure-identity nexus”; and determines the orientation of foreign policy outcomes from the 1990s until 2011. The discussion outlines the merits of a hybrid theoretical perspective by elaborating on Barkin’s idea of ‘realist constructivism’, which draws on two rival traditions, realism and constructivism. The structure-identity framework explains the double transformation in the relationship, considering the return to inter- and intra-state conflict in 2011. The research draws on extensive primary and secondary sources, as well as interviews carried out with key figures. In addition to the relationship between Syria and Turkey, the structure-identity nexus provides potential broader explanations that fuel the shift from amity to enmity in the complex network of states found in the Middle East. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Turkey has thus far been generally neglected in most IR studies on power categorisations, such as middle or middle-range power, regional power or rising/emerging power, despite its rising regional power status in the past decade. This paper attempts to understand Turkey’s regional power together with its rising power status using an integral approach. In doing so, it empirically tests whether or not Turkey fits Daniel Flemes’s ‘regional power’ category, which seems to be proposing a more complete and integral framework through the fulfilment of four basic preconditions: claim to leadership; possession of necessary power resources (material and ideational); employment of material, institutional and discursive foreign policy instruments; and acceptance of leadership by third parties. Based upon these analytical tools, the article will discuss Turkey’s performance in creating a regional impact in its neighbouring regions of the Middle East, the Balkans and the Black Sea and Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the political relations between Poland-Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate--taking into account France and the Habsburg Empire as other actors--to demonstrate how a pan-European context of war, equilibrium and security policy can be understood as a transnational network. The focus on Poland-Lithuania makes it clear that a pan-European understanding of Austro-Ottoman relations--all too often presented as pars pro toto for the entire Ottoman-European relationship--requires an appropriate consideration of eastern Europe. On the one hand, focusing on Poland-Lithuania and the Crimean Khanate places the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and Vienna in a broader context. On the other, this also explains how in 1790, with the benefit of hindsight, Mehmed Raşid, the person responsible for Ottoman external relations, was able to state that 'the Poles are our oldest and best friends'. Ultimately the common procedures and explicit constructions developed as part of the communications process addressed cultural (in)difference. An assessment of the respective communication partner is fundamental to such an approach: Both Poland-Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire--as well as the dominions between these two states--were linguistically and religiously very heterogeneous. They were characterized as multi-ethnic empires that were founded on the practices of transgresssing (trans)cultural and ethno-confessional boundaries, without assuming that this precluded conflict or required an anachronistic and allegedly principled tolerance. This article traces such practices between the empires, in particular in the sphere of peace treaties. It shows that researchers need to modify the view that the Ottoman Empire did not enter into an explicitly perpetual peace with a Christian power until the 18th century, as the case of Poland demonstrates. The case of the Crimean Khanate also clarifies that it was not at all unthinkable in the repertoire of Ottoman foreign policy, including that of the Ottoman vassal, to enter into perpetual peace with Christian powers. Obviously, however, this strategy was not specifically applied in the Austrian context, but was very much used elsewhere in other Ottoman-European relations. Rather than an ideological 'aversion' to perpetual peace with Christians on the part of Ottoman dignitaries, it is more appropriate to call this a deliberately chosen strategy of taking different approaches to the respective partners in the European balance of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the impact of ideology and foreign policy of Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party, JDP) on incoming tourist volume to Turkey from the Middle East. Turkey has been one of the destinations enjoyed rapid tourism growth for the past 15 years both in number of arrivals and tourism income. Meanwhile almost all major Muslim countries in the region increased their share on arrivals to Turkey. JDP, the party in power in Turkey since 2003, is a conservative party, which seeks for close relations with the Middle East region, as part of its ideological attitude and new foreign policy outlook. Therefore, Turkey is an ideal domain to study the relationship between ideology, foreign policy and international tourist arrivals. The paper argues that the conservative identity and new foreign policy of the JDP resulted in a significant increase on incoming tourist volume from the Middle East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Foreign Policy Journal (CFPJ) is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Codrul Cosminului is the property of Codrul Cosminului and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As a regional power, Turkey aspires to become an influential international actor. As a small state, Qatar seeks to enhance its security and sovereignty and become an indispensable regional middle power. The Arab Spring protests have created an ideal context for both actors to realize their geopolitical goals. However, adverse political developments have turned most Arab Spring countries into battlegrounds wherein old geopolitical rivalries deepened and new regional alliances were constructed. Taking Gaza, Syria and Egypt as cases in point, this paper investigates how Ankara and Doha's evolving practical geopolitical reasoning and its domestic and international representations converged to create venues for cooperation and promotion of relations to a level of political alignment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Turkey has expanded the horizons of its foreign policy in geographical terms, as well as in terms of Ankara's involvement in global issues and in international organizations. Turkey's new foreign policy and line of geopolitical thought marks a considerable degree of discontinuity with the previous era. Turkey's ambition is to take on a central role in world politics under the guidance of the foreign policy vision of former Foreign Minister and current Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. This paper analyses the extent to which Turkey's Foreign Ministry has been able to transform itself in accordance with the new geopolitical thinking under Davutoğlu. It focuses on the capacity building and reform of the Foreign Ministry to understand how policymakers bridge the gap between ideas and institutions to ensure that the geopolitical perspective is an enduring and long-term project. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The argument of this paper is that the new foreign policy orientation of Turkey under the AKP (Justice and Development Party) government is a constitutive component of a new nationalist project, constructed and carried out by the AKP over the last decade. The article expounds the ways in which the AKP has reformulated the notions of nation, national history, homeland and national interest and demonstrates the role foreign policy has played in this reformulation. Our point of departure will be the patterns we have observed in the statements and political practices of the AKP government and its officials, particularly the incumbent minister of foreign affairs Ahmet Davutoğlu, whose book, Strategic Depth, presents a more systematic explanation of the major principles and assertions of AKP nationalism and foreign policy. We will also argue that after the Gezi protests in June 2013 this new conception of nation and nationalism has faced with a deep crisis, which has also exacerbated the problem of pursuing an ambitious foreign policy strategy in international arena. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the bilateral relationship between two Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries - Turkey and Malaysia - in terms of economic cooperation. Although their cultural, political, and social relationship goes back to the thirteenth century, their current economic relationship has not yet reached the desired level. Although it has grown steadily over the last decade, the annual turnover is not as much as it should be. In 2000 the volume of trade between them was a modest USD 242 million; by 2006 it increased to USD 994 million, which made Malaysia Turkey's seventh largest trading partner in Asia. The following year, the trade volume exceeded USD 1.3 billion, an increase of 34 percent. Despite this growing trade, the trade balance has long been in Malaysia's favour. Turkey's trade deficit amounted to USD 1.2 billion dollars, an increase of 33%, in comparison with the corresponding figures for 2009. Surprisingly, by 2010 Turkish exports to Malaysia had risen to USD 93 million and imports from Malaysia had doubled to more than USD 498 million. Expectations are that bilateral trade in 2012 will rise to USD 2.5 billion, with Malaysian exports making up a large portion of that figure. Since it reached to this expectation it would be USD 5 billion by 2015. As Turkey and Malaysia belong to the OIC, they need to develop a bilateral strategic partnership. For this reason, Ankara has introduced such initiatives as "A Strategy to Improve Commercial and Economic Relations with Asia Pacific Countries," "The Turkish and Malaysian Joint Economic Commission (JEC)," The Turkish-Malaysian Business Council," and others. This research will try to find ways to increase their bilateral economic cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies / Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi is the property of Sakarya University, Middle East Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The challenges of the Arab Spring and of Syrian unrest in particular have generated scholarly debate on Ahmet Davutoğlu's broadly appreciated ‘zero problems with neighbours’ principle in Turkish foreign policy. This paper presents an assessment of the viability of the Davutoğlu vision and the changing parameters of foreign policy in a new era. It concludes with a discussion of a crucial question: ‘Is this the end of Davutoğlu's foreign policy vision?’ [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]