Representations as a foreign policy analysis tool in Soviet-Turkish relations (1920-1946) : a critical constructivist approach

Abstract

This thesis provides an account of Turkish Foreign Policy towards the Soviet Union in the inter-war and post-war eras from a critical constructivist point of view. It is argued that the radically different responses given by Turkish Foreign Policy makers to the contextually similar demands of the Soviet Union was allowed by the (re)construction of the representation of the Soviet Union in Turkish Foreign Policy discourse. It is further indicated that the Soviet ‘demands’ throughout the inter-war years did not alter the ‘sincere friend’ identity of the Soviet Union, while similar ‘demands’ in the post-war era entirely changed the identity of the Soviet Union to an ‘enemy’. Whereas the ‘sincere friend’ identity allowed for maintaining good relations with the Soviet Union, the ‘enemy’ identity allowed the move towards the United States as opposed to the Soviet Union.