THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION INNOVATIONS (ISSN- 2689-100X)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE07
188
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajssei
PUBLISHED DATE: - 31-07-2024
DOI: -
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume06Issue07-20
PAGE NO.: - 188-193
CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS AND MODERN
DIRECTIONS OF THE FORMATION OF
TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY
Sirojiddin Abduvoitov
Researcher of the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, Uzbekistan
INTRODUCTION
As we all know, today there is a complex situation
at the international level, and the world is going
through fundamental transformations that are
difficult to predict and have unpredictable
consequences. In addition, the crisis of mutual
trust and mutual understanding is acutely felt on
the world stage. Threats to global and regional
security are increasing and new dangers are
emerging. In this regard, the scientific analysis of
the transformation processes taking place in
modern international relations is more relevant
than ever.
After the "Justice and Development Party" came to
power in Turkey, there have been significant
changes in Ankara's foreign policy. The coming to
power of this party changed the priorities of the
country's foreign policy and defined the national
interests of the country more clearly. During the
rule of the "Justice and Development Party",
Turkey cooperates with the neighboring regions,
including the countries of the Middle East and
Central Asia through the "soft power" policy, and
conducts an active regional foreign policy.
Of course, Ankara's foreign policy has diversified
to a certain extent, which means that it is moving
away from the position of a small partner of
America in the region and is trying to strengthen
relations with eastern countries.
METHODS
The theoretical and methodological basis of the
study of the foreign policy of the Republic of
Turkey in the transformation of modern
international relations is the modern political
science methods, in particular, theoretical,
empirical and practical methods. The author
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Abstract
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION INNOVATIONS (ISSN- 2689-100X)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE07
189
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajssei
followed general scientific methods - analysis and
synthesis, deduction and induction. In addition,
among the theoretical methods, such methods as
systematic, institutional and comparative analysis
are of priority. In this article, the method of
systematic analysis helps to study the foreign
policy of Turkey in the transformation of the
modern system of international relations.
DISCUSSION
In the transformation of modern international
relations, Turkey conducts its active foreign policy
in front of the world community. Of course, as in
every country, foreign policy in Turkey is based on
the national interests of the state. Ideology and
ideas form the basis of foreign policy.
The most effective, proven and recognized
mechanism for achieving the goals set in the
modern foreign policy of the Republic of Turkey is
the term “soft power”, which has been used since
the end of the 20th century. Undoubtedly, in the
21st century, the use of “soft power” policy ensures
not only the country's well-being, but also its
security, economic interests, foreign political
image, as well as increasing its international
influence.
Therefore, the political landscape of the world has
recently been transformed in a unique way, in
order to advance their national interests in
modern international relations, countries are
moving from the theory of “soft power” to “hard
power” are trying to use. Currently, “soft power”
[1] is of great interest among representatives of
the world politics.
This policy, which reflects the views of
representatives of the school of neoliberalism in
America, plays a major role not only in the public
diplomacy and foreign policy of the United States
of America, but also in the foreign policy direction
of other leading countries, especially Turkey.
Th
e origin of the term “soft power” can be found in
the history of the ancient Chinese Lao-tzu, and in
the works of Antonio Gramsci in the Middle Ages.
In the modern era, this term was introduced into
circulation by Joseph Nye, who tried to explain the
theor
etical aspects of “soft power” in several of his
scientific research works. J. Nye defined “soft
power” in his book as follows: “What is soft
power?” "soft power" means achieving desired
results without the use of coercive means, on the
contrary, by attracting allies and partners
voluntarily. The intended result can be achieved,
first of all, by developing spiritual and material
culture, increasing the effectiveness of foreign and
domestic policy [2].
As we know, “hard power” tries to establish
policies based on pressure and violence (using
military force or economic resources). In contrast,
the effective side of soft power is formed through
the dissemination of various information through
mass media. So, both “hard power” and “soft
power” have a common stra
tegy in a certain sense,
but the tactics of implementing this strategy have
their own characteristics for each of them.
It is not wrong to say that Turkey’s active use of
“soft power” had a clear purpose after the
appointment of Ahmet Davutoğlu as the form
er
minister of Foreign Affairs. Of course, it was
Davutoğlu who was responsible for the
development of broad cooperation not only in the
political-economic, but also in the cultural-
humanitarian spheres with the countries of the
Middle East, the Caucasus, the Balkans, North
Africa, Saudi Arabia, which were included in the
territories of the former Ottoman Empire, and with
the sister countries of Central Asia, modern He
emphasized that it is important for Turkey.
Consequently, his views and policies were later
reflected in the concept of Turkish foreign policy.
Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey,
the basis of Turkey's foreign policy has been the
doctrine of foreign policy formulated by Mustafa
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION INNOVATIONS (ISSN- 2689-100X)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE07
190
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajssei
Kemal Atatürk in 1923-1938. Over the years,
Turkey has widely used the foreign policy defined
by Atatürk in its activities in the international
arena.
Later, several changes took place in Turkey's
foreign policy. For example, after the Justice and
Development Party came to the top of the
government, the ma
in direction of the country’s
foreign policy was based on the ideas of the pre-
republic period. As a result, new forms of ideas
such as Ottomanism, Pan-Turkism and Pan-
Islamism appeared. However, according to many
experts conducting scientific research on Turkey's
foreign policy, the direction of Turkey’s foreign
policy has been transformed several times since
the establishment of the Republic, but fundamental
changes have taken place. noting that [3].
The transformation of the modern system of
international relations and the change in the role
of the main countries in the world require many
countries to reconsider the direction of their
domestic and foreign policy. Turkey’s foreign
policy strategy did not stop, but continued to
develop, and as we can see, today the Republic of
Turkey remains one of the main power centers in
the Middle East region. In turn, the idea of
perfection is undergoing radical changes and is
gradually becoming a thing of the past, and new
directions of development are entering the world
political arena.
Another such idea is the doctrine of “Zero
Problems with the Neighbours” proposed by
Ahmet Davutoğlu, the former foreign minister and
prime minister of Turkey. The doctrine was
adopted in 2008 and has been a decisive factor in
Turkey's foreign policy for a long time [4]. This
doctrine was primarily based on the principle of
peace and justice and reflected the essence of
Turkish idealism. The main idea was to conduct a
peaceful foreign policy, and this doctrine
corresponded to Atatürk’s main motto: “Peace at
home, peace in the world” According to the
doctrine, Turkey focused on establishing mutually
beneficial economic relations with the countries of
the Middle East. At that time, the Republic of
Turkey announced its readiness to take
responsibility for ensuring stability in the Middle
East. However, such statements of Turkey were
explained by the desire to take leadership status
both in the region and outside the regional space.
Ahmet Davutoğlu divided the country into four
types in his bo
ok “Strategic Depth”, which was
published before the concept of “Zero Problems
with the Neighbours" was developed, and believed
that Kemalism policy affected Turkey's active
position in the international arena. In his opinion,
this policy meant that the country was leading to
the status of a “small country” in front of the world
community, and this, in turn, was against the
future of a Republic with great potential like
Turkey [5]. After such statements, it was not
difficult to guess in which direction Turkey will act
in foreign policy. The official adoption of the “Zero
Problems with the Neighbours” doctrine
confirmed these assumptions and was a logical
continuation of the transformation processes in
the country’s foreign policy.
Of course, the provisions of this doctrine seem
effective only in theory, but its practical
application is a difficult matter. The unsuccessful
implementation of this idea can be explained by
several reasons:
-
it is very difficult to implement this doctrine
in an area like the Middle East, because there have
been mutual claims between countries for a long
time, as well as various conflicts between states,
and they are not controlled by one state. it is almost
impossible to solve it by initiative;
-
from the point of view of the fact that such
riots as the “Arab Spring” in 2011 were not taken
into account, this doctrine was not sufficiently
formulated, these disagreements destabilized the
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION INNOVATIONS (ISSN- 2689-100X)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE07
191
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajssei
region so much that even at the present time, not
only one country, but also international
organizations are making specific actions to
establish peace and resolve disputes in this region;
-
from the beginning, there was no suitable
alternative to this doctrine, and no one guaranteed
that the process of rapprochement between the
countries would be carried out according to plan;
-
initially, Turkey used lobbying to create a
zone of stability around the country's borders,
before gaining its regional leadership. As a result,
the country became so obsessed with self-
development that even its actions began to
contradict its ideals, and eventually the
inconsistency of the doctrine's rules became
apparent.
Currently, the direction of Turkey's foreign policy
has moved far away from this concept. As a
confirmation of this, we can take an example of the
actions taken by the state leadership in Iraq and
Syria. It seems that Ankara prefers to accept the
rules that have been formed over the years as the
basis of foreign policy activities, instead of
spending a lot of resources to produce new
concepts [6].
RESULTS
In general, the modern foreign policy direction of
the Republic of Turkey was shaped primarily by
the influence of global geopolitical changes
associated with the transition from a bipolar
system to a multipolar world system, but at the
same time, it preserved its civilizational identity.
In general, the country needed a strong person
who would bring the direction of foreign policy to
a new level, who would be able to unite different
layers of the population, and who would once again
represent the Turkish people as a great, united and
invincible nation on the international stage. At
such a time, a strong politician like Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan comes to power. He is the leader of the
Justice and Development Party (ATP), which will
create a system in the country that meets the
above-mentioned characteristics. In addition, ATP
has developed clear and effective programs for the
country's development that can cover various
Turkish societies and integrate all sectors. In
addition, R.T.Erdoğan developed a new western
development model in the country and managed to
restore Islamic values, which in turn was
supported by a wide range of voters in the country
[7]. During his tenure as Prime Minister of Turkey,
Erdoğan developed a new road map called "Vision
2023", which includes several goals and tasks for
the country's development. In this program, it is
noted that, based on Turkey's unique potential, it
is necessary to develop a new foreign policy aimed
at revising its place and role in the world. In
addition, priority goals and objectives were set,
such as re-establishing historical ties and adapting
them to modern political events, establishing
friendly relations with all border states and key
participants in world politics, strengthening
Turkey's role in the international arena by
implementing the principle of “Strategic depth”.
In addition, Turkey has set new foreign policy
goals. These goals and objectives were to be
fulfilled by 2023. The goals and views of Turkey's
foreign policy, formulated by the former Prime
Minister
of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoğlu, were as
follows:
1.
Turkey will create all the conditions for
joining the European Union and become an
influential member state of the European Union by
2023;
2.
Turkey to continue regional integration in
the form of security and economic cooperation;
3.
To play an important role in resolving
regional conflicts;
4.
Active participation of Turkey at the
international level;
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION INNOVATIONS (ISSN- 2689-100X)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE07
192
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajssei
5.
Turkey should play a decisive role in the
international arena and Turkey should enter the
top ten countries with the largest economy in the
world. To achieve this, Turkey should advance in
every way and in every field, show interest in every
issue related to global stability and make a worthy
contribution [8].
In our opinion, we see that Turkey is in some sense
implementing the foreign policy goals. In
particular, Russia's entry into the territory of
Ukraine on February 24, 2022 had a significant
impact on the current world order. Slogans such as
"special military operation" and "fight against
Nazism" turned into a wide conflict over time. On
March 31, 2023, at the meeting held on Ukraine
within the framework of the 52nd session of the
UN Human Rights Council, it was reported that
8,400 civilians were killed as a result of Russia's
invasion of Ukraine [9]. As a result of this war, the
world's prices for food, energy, fertilizers and
other essential goods have skyrocketed, which has
led to increased tension and inequality in all
regions. In such a situation, Turkey started its
efforts to resolve the disputes between the two
countries peacefully. In addition, at the initiative of
Turkey, agreements on the export of Ukrainian
grain were concluded on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul
for a period of 120 days with the possibility of
automatic extension if there are no objections from
the parties. The documents were signed separately
by the UN and Turkey with Russia and Ukraine.
Consequently, the UN Human Rights Defender
noted the importance of the Black Sea Grain
Initiative. These efforts of Turkey made it possible
to ensure global food security in the world, first of
all, to help the neediest countries.
CONCLUSION
Currently, the Republic of Turkey remains loyal to
its ideologies of neo-Ottomanism and neo-Pan-
Turkism. For this purpose, Turkey is developing
comprehensive strategic cooperation with the
Central Asian countries and the Turkic-speaking
regions of the Russian Federation. However, the
fact that these relations do not correspond to the
interests of many major countries is in a certain
sense an obstacle to the relations between Turkey
and the Turkic peoples. For example, in Russia,
since the days of the Russian Empire, there has
been a view that "the idea of Pan-Turkism poses a
danger to the country and promotes nationalism",
and they still adhere to this conclusion.
In fact, Turkey's foreign policy does not have the
idea of uniting the Turkic peoples. In particular,
such an idea can be implemented through
economic, humanitarian, "soft power" policies. For
example, interstate dialogues, visits, the
development of political, economic, cultural
relations, the emergence of Turkish cultural
centers, educational programs, training centers,
and the emergence and development of the
organization of Turkic states are evidence of our
opinion.
In addition, Turkey is currently expanding its
sphere of influence to the countries of the Middle
East region and the African continent, relying on
the above-mentioned ideologies. This is the
concept of "Eurasianism" in Turkey's foreign
policy, which is actively developing political and
economic cooperation with the countries and
peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as
with Russia and China.
So, in our opinion, it is methodologically correct to
study the foreign policy of Turkey in terms of
ideological and value areas both in connection with
global trends and in connection with the change of
the political regime in Turkey. Accordingly, the
main methodological aspects of the study of the
foreign policy direction of the Republic of Turkey
were formed in the modern transformational
system of international relations.
REFERENCES
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION INNOVATIONS (ISSN- 2689-100X)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE07
193
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajssei
1.
Yumshoq kuch (ingliz tilida “Soft power”
odatda “yumshoq kuch” deb tarjima qilinadi,
mazkur atama muallifi Jozef Nay hisoblanadi.
Olim tomonidan ilk marta “yumshoq
hokimiyat” (мягкая сила) degan qarashni
ilgari
suradi)
https://books.google.com/books?id=wuqOAA
AAMAAJ
2.
Irkhin A., Moskalenko O. Russia’s Foreign
Policy in the Great Mediterranean: Prospects
and Constraints // Geopolitics Quarterly. 2020.
Vol. 15. № 4. P. 116.
3.
Шлыков П. Политика и экономика
«турецкого потока»: интересы расчёты
Анкары // Европейская безопасность:
события, оценки, прогнозы. 2015. № 37. С.
2
–
5.
4.
Nye J. Soft Power. The Means to Success in
World Politics. - New York: Public Affairs,
2004.
–
Р.192.
5.
Ноль проблем с соседями. Как Турция
превратилась из «совести Ближнего
Востока»
в
страну
-
отшельницу
[Электронный ресурс] // Международный
дискуссионный клуб «Валдай». Режим
доступа:
http://ru.valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/nol-
problem-s-sosedyami-turtsiya/
6.
Михеева
Н.М.
Внешнеполитическая
идеология Турции: текущие тенденции и
перспективы развития // Турция: новые
реалии во внутренней политике и участие в
региональных геополитических процессах.
Под. ред. В.А. Аваткова, С.Б. Дружиловского,
А.В. Федорченко. М.: МГИМО
-
Университет,
2014. С. 99.
7.
Мартынов В. Л., Сазонова И. Е. Турция
между Западом и Востоком [Электронный
ресурс] // Василий Львович Мартынов.
URL:
http://lwowich.ucoz.ru/statja_pro_turcija.pdf
8.
Turkey’s Strategic Vision 2023 Project
[Электронный ресурс] // AK Parti. URL:
https: // www. ak-parti. org. tr/parti/2023-
siyasi-vizyon/
9.
BMT Ukrainadagi urushda qancha tinch aholi
halok
bo‘lganini
ma’lum
qildi.
https://www.qalampir.uz/uz/news/bmt-
ukrainadagi-urushda-k-ancha-tinch-
a%D2%B3oli-%D2%B3alok-bulganini-ma-
lum-k-ildi-80079
