Through the Turkish looking-glass: Turkey's divergent narratives, national identity & foreign policy

What constitutes Turkish identity continues to be vehemently debated in contemporary Turkey. Different narratives have emerged to suggest alternative approaches to the Turkish state's official historical and political narrative. These new narratives challenge some of the core elements of Turkish nationalism, society and, more specifically, foreign policy. As the Turks entertain these different narratives, Turkish foreign policy changes could lead to the development of drastic security problems in the Middle East, Balkans and the Caucasus. Borrowing from different academic and policy expert analyses, this thesis discusses how these narratives were formed and what to expect if either one is adopted as the approach to Turkish foreign policy. The findings of this thesis reaffirmed the importance of Turkish accession to the European Union and how important it is for the Turks to synthesize these divergent narratives to avoid further societal and regional polarization.