Turkey's "new" foreign policy toward Eurasia
Author
Bilgin, P.
Bilgiç, A.
Date
2011Source Title
Eurasian Geography and Economics
Print ISSN
1538-7216
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Volume
52
Issue
2
Pages
173 - 195
Language
English
Type
ArticleItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
Two geographers specializing in Turkey's international relations examine the reframing of foreign policy issues under the country's Justice and Development Party (JDP; also known by its Turkish acronym AKP), in power since 2002. After first locating the JDP within Turkey's current political landscape, the authors investigate how notions of civilizational geopolitics have led to a "new geographic imagination" under JDP that has influenced foreign policy thinking. The authors argue that JDP foreign policy exhibits some continuity with that of earlier governments in terms of activist policies toward Central Eurasia (comprising the Middle East, Central Asia, and Transcaucasia), but are based on a new conceptual foundation that views Turkey not as part of Western civilization but as the emerging leader of its own "civilizational basin" (consisting of the former Ottoman territories plus adjoining regions inhabited by Muslim and Turkic peoples). They then explore the implications for Turkey's future relations with the Central Eurasian region (of which Turkey is assumed to be the leader) and countries of the West (viewed now as "neighbors" but no longer "one of us").
Keywords
Central AsiaCivilizational geopolitics
Eurasia
Foreign policy
Justice and Development Party
Middle East
Natural gas pipelines
Oil pipelines
Transcaucasia
Turkey
Civilization
Foreign policy
Geopolitics
International relations
Policy reform
Political relations
Turkey