The foreign policy of the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan government concerns the policy initiatives made by Turkey towards other states under Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Background
History
The European Union and NATO are the main fixtures and the main elements of continuity in Turkish foreign policy. "Turkey experienced the direct impact of the post-Cold War atmosphere of insecurity, which resulted in a variety of security problems in Turkey's neighborhood. The most urgent issue for Turkish diplomacy, in this context, was to harmonize Turkey's influential power axes with the new international environment."
"During the Cold War, Turkey was a "wing country" under NATO's strategic framework, resting on the geographic perimeter of the Western alliance. NATO's strategic concept, however, has evolved in the post-Cold War era and so has Turkey's calculation of its strategic environment. Turkey's presence in Afghanistan is an example of this change." Turkey's involvement in NATO has increased during this government. Turkey also has advanced considerably in the European integration process compared with the previous decade, when it was not even clear whether the EU was seriously considering Turkey's candidacy.
Turkey has been building relations with its neighbors (including Iran and Syria), under a doctrine called 'zero troubles with neighbors'. These developments worried some Western observers that Turkey, frustrated by its stalled EU accession drive among other things, is seeking to recalibrate its foreign policy, not just by moving closer to the Muslim world but also by turning away from the West. Members of the government rejected these claims.
Doctrine
Turkish foreign policy under the AKP administration has been associated with the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu was the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he was appointed foreign minister in 2009. As an academic, he has outlined his foreign policy doctrine in several writings, most important of which is his book Strategic Depth. The implementation of Davutoğlu's foreign policy doctrine has contributed to a transformation of Turkish foreign policy and the rising importance of Turkey's diplomatic role, especially in the Middle East. While his doctrine is often dubbed as neo-Ottomanism, the use of this term is rather misleading. Ottomanism was a nineteenth-century liberal political movement aiming to the formation of a civic Ottoman national identity overarching ethnic, linguistic and religious identities. The term was briefly reinstated as “neo-Ottomanism” to characterize the foreign policy overtures of Turgut Özal in the late 1980s. While these involved increased interest in the Middle East, they share little of the conceptual content of Davutoğlu's vision. Davutoğlu's professor and close adviser of former President Turgut Özal, Greek geopolitician Dimitri Kitsikis has had a decisive influence on his geopolitical theory.
Although geopolitics still comprises a key framework of Davutoğlu's strategic thinking, it is supplemented by liberal elements, such as soft power, conflict resolution and promotion of “win-win” solutions. In his book “Strategic Depth,” published in 2001, Davutoğlu elaborates on his strategic vision about Turkey. He argues that Turkey possesses “strategic depth” due to its history and geographic position and lists Turkey among a small group of countries which he calls “central powers”. Turkey should not be content with a regional role in the Balkans or the Middle East, because it is not a regional but a central power. Hence, it should aspire to play a leading role in several regions, which could award it global strategic significance. In Davutoğlu's view, Turkey is a Middle Eastern, Balkan, Caucasian, Central Asian, Caspian, Mediterranean, Gulf and Black Sea country, can simultaneously exercise influence in all these regions and thus claim a global strategic role. In view of these, he rejects the perception of Turkey as a bridge between Islam and the West, as this would relegate Turkey to an instrument for the promotion of the strategic interests of other countries.