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Examines crypto-optimism in Turkish-Greek relations. Distrust between the two nations created by their 'living history'; Conflict between the two nations stemming from the fact that both Turkey and Greece have obtained their national identities by fighting against, and interacting with each other.

Discusses the role played by Great Britain (GB) in the counter-revolution in Turkey on March 31, 1909 against the Young Turks. Attitude of GB toward differences of opinion within various Young Turks groups and between them and the government; Policy of GB after the suppression of the counter-revolution; Implications of the Young Turks' revolution for the Anglo-Turkish relations.

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]

Discusses the effect and the influence that three newspapers-`Paik-i Islam,'`Al-Khalifa' and `al-Ghayrat' had upon Anglo-Ottoman relations in the second half of the nineteenth century. Pro-Ottoman stand taken by the Muslim newspapers during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878; Vernacular Press Act of 1878; More.

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]

This paper provides a simple introduction to event data analysis, a quantitative data collection and analysis approach that has been used extensively for compiling broad datasets of foreign policy and other international behaviors. The authors define the steps undertaken in creating the Turkish Foreign Affairs Event Dataset (TFAED). This pilot study, which uses a single news source and covers a 23-year period (1990-2013) of foreign affairs in Turkey, was completed to evaluate the feasibility, time, cost, and possible problems that might be encountered with a full-scope study. The paper describes the obstacles encountered during the pilot study's initial phases and discusses a sample of the preliminary findings. The paper concludes with potential uses of the dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern Turkish Republic emerged from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire less than 85 years ago. Yet the majority of analysis and writing on contemporary Turkey neglects or superficially treats the Ottoman historical legacy. This paper argues that contemporary Turkey is very much shaped by the legacy and identity that the Ottoman Empire left it as a clear imperial successor state. A key contention is that understanding Turkey's Ottoman legacy and the historical memory of past leadership among the Turkish public, in the region and globally, is instrumental for any analysis or discussion about Turkey's present or future. By looking at Turkey's identity and international behavior since the Republic, this paper seeks to develop a better understanding from which to analyze the historical roots of many of the values, tensions, institutions, and motivations that permeate contemporary Turkey today. [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.)

Policy makers often cite ‘human ties’ as a factor in Turkish–Balkan interstate relations, given the sizeable number of people in Turkey of Balkan origin, and perceived ethno-religious kin in the Balkans. The paper examines the period since 1989, and shows how such individuals and groups have increasingly become subjects in relations between Turkey and the rest of the Balkans. Yet, precisely as trans-state ties have increased in significance, the ‘state’ has also attempted to harness or infiltrate the ‘trans-state’ to further state interests. The paper seeks to show how non-state and state actors have interacted, resulting in an intensification and multiplication of trans-state ties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

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]

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]

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]