The Analysis Of Turkey’s New Foreign Policy

After the Cold War, Turkey’s foreign policy was gradually adapted to the new pattern ofinternational relations, in this process, Turkey’s foreign policy is also gradually with the newchanges. This paper will analyze these new changes and their main theoretical concepts basedon the regional situation and its impact. Currently Turkey has formed a strategic depth as thecore of foreign policy line, in this thesis, mainly on the new concept of Foreign Affairs ofTurkey to conduct a detailed analysis. In the new international environment, the developmentof Turkey’s foreign policy in a changing process, this process is the development ofinternational relations after the Cold War era and Turkish special geopolitical position theinevitable result. Meanwhile, in the new era Turkey changing political environment at homeand abroad for its foreign policy, do a re-adjustment.In the early days of the Turkish policy of actively pursuing westernization, and activelydevelop diplomatic relations with Western countries, it is precisely because of the early daysof the formation of the international security environment at the time of the Turkish foreignpolicy. With the arrival of the Cold War international system, Turkey’s sphere to maneuverstrategically in the international arena was also constrained. Cold War bipolar system forcedthe states to place themselves within a one of the two rival power poles, the US and USSR. Inthis power polarization, Turkey determined its position under the Western security umbrella.In this context, Turkish foreign policy was mainly in harmony with the Western expectations.Until the end of the Cold War, use of Turkey’s geo-political position were mostly influencedby the questions of security,Decline of the Soviet system signified a vital transformation in the parameters of theCold-War international relations. The end of the strategic balance between the two continentalpowers left behind an ambiguity for the future of international order. Consequentially,political instability remained after the bipolar order paved way to the strategic monopoly ofthe US leadership. September11attacks constituted the new turning point for the Worldpolitics. United States-initiated war on so-called “global terror” in the wake of the attacks hasbrought the security question as the main point to the international political agenda.Re-increase of the security question with newly defined enemy, Islamic terrorism, has launched searches for alternative solutions for peaceful settlement of the disputes instead ofmilitary engagements.Post-September11direction of the international politics re-elevated Turkey’sinternational position and its foreign policy orientation. Islamic radicalism, blamed for theSeptember11incidents, carried Turkey to top of the new international order questions. Turkeyhas been addressed as a road for the peace in its region. Likewise, Turkey has appeared as ‘therole model’ for the Muslim Middle Eastern Countries, as the only Muslim state with aWestern orientation, with its functioning democracy and its managements to conciliate itsmodernization project with its traditional Muslim population. Within the context of theabove-mentioned, Turkey’s foreign policy has undergone considerable changes in the lastdecade. Turkey adopted a proactive engagement with its neighborhood and started to revise itspast conflicts through a different perspective. Therefore, this thesis aims at examining thecauses，manifestations and effects of Turkey’s new foreign policy。Following questions are aimed to be responded throughout a descriptive and analyticalmethodology:1, What are the main principles of traditional Turkish foreign policy.2, How did internal and international changes affect Turkey’s traditional foreign policyduring the Cold War.3, Define theoretical and practical changes in Turkey’s foreign policy-making.4, The performance of Turkey’s foreign policy.5, The influence of the Turkey’s new foreign policy.The thesis consists of three chapters.The first chapter discusses the traditional foreign policy of Turkey and factors thatinfluence the change of the foreign policy of Turkey. Firstly, general picture is analyzed withthe principal tendencies of the traditional Turkish foreign policy. In the following lines, thechapter is divided in two sub-topics, First sub-topic searches the domestic influences,basically the Kemalist foundations, on foreign policy formation. Second sub-topic is allocatedto the international factors, mainly the impact of the Cold-War international order. Secondly,factors that influence the change of the foreign policy of Turkey is covered.Second chapter discusses the new concepts of Turkey’s foreign policy and its theoretical sources. The first section is the research Davuto lu’s "strategic depth" theories of Turkey inthe international relationship and the "strategic depth" analysis. While defining the newconcepts in the second sub-heading, Davuto lu’s writings, speeches and policy practices isstudied. And, transition of these new concepts to the foreign policy formation is detailed withvarious political initiatives. Additionally, ongoing debates on Turkey’s new foreign policyvision through the new concepts and executions are touched upon. This part is studied underbelow-mentioned conceptual topics:1. Balance between security and freedom2. Zero-problems with the neighbors3. To develop relations with the neighboring regions and beyond4. Pro-active diplomacy5. Multi-dimensional foreign policyThe third part is the impact of Turkey’s new foreign policy. Discussed mainly from threeaspects, on the one hand, a full range of diverse coexistence Turkey’s new foreign policydirection for the development of countries in the region have an important reference. On theother hand, mainly discuss the influence of the new foreign policy of Turkey on the policy ofAmerican.Finally Turkey vigorously promote good-neighborly diplomacy, is committed tousing dialogue, contacts and cooperative manner dealing with conflicts between neighborsdispute, to stabilize the situation in the region has a positive meaning.The thesis is finalized with the conclusion part. In this part, findings with respect toquestions are summarized. And lastly, questions for further research are recommended.