Perspectives on Turkey’s Multi-Regional Role in the 21st Century

Mujib Alam

This book dwells upon the various aspects of the Turkish foreign policy in the different regions of the world, especially with the dawn of the twenty-first century. Turkey has attracted international attention due to a marked transformation in the country’s domestic and external realms, which in turn, has led to an increased activism in its foreign policy actions. Particularly, Turkey’s economic rise has fuelled the country’s ambition and quest for a more significant role in international affairs. These transformations have come about with the ascendance of the Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP) [or Justice & Development Party (JDP)] to power in 2002. Turkey, under the AKP, moved towards a ‘new’ direction in the foreign policy and consequently endeavoured to play a larger role in West Asia (Middle East), the Balkans, southern Mediterranean, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Africa and Asia. The country has emerged as a multi-regional player having stakes and tractions on a range of issues in these regions. The several discernible aspects of Turkey’s involvement are dealt with in the contributions to this volume.

Contents

List of Abbreviation
Acknowledgements
Contributors
Introduction
Mujib Alam

1.Titanic Shift in the Republic of Turkey from Stasis to Homonoia
Arshi Khan
2.The ‘Alliance of Civilizations’ and Turkish Foreign Policy
Nurullah Ardiç
3.Strategic Depth Doctrine and Turkish Engagement in West Asia
Nitish Kumar
4.The Syrian Uprising and Turkey-Syria-Iran Relations
Özden Zeynep Oktav
5.Turkey–Iran Economic Ties Post-2002
Sujata Ashwarya Cheema
6.The Arab Spring and the Turkish Model
Anita Sengupta
7.Israel and Turkey: Revisiting the Alliance?
Priya Singh
8.Turkey’s Middle Eastern Policy: A European Attitude
Davood Kiani
9.A New World Order and its Impact on Turkey–EU Relations
Emirhan Göral
10.Turkey’s Dream of the European Union Membership and the Protracted Hurdles to it
Indrani Talukdar
11.The Gülen (Hizmet) Community in Slovakia and Bosnia:
Transnational Movement as a Turkish Foreign Policy Actor
Gabriel Pirický
12.Turkey’s Cyprus Policy under the AKP
Zeynep Didem Akinoglu
13.Uyghur Factor in Turkey’s Relationship with China
Mahesh Ranjan Debata
14.Geopolitics of Central Asia: The Changing Role of Turkey
Mohammad Monir Alam
15.Role of Turkey in Making Peace in Afghanistan
Md. Rahat Hasan
16.Turkey’s Foreign Aid Programmes and its Foreign Policy Activism in Africa
Ahmed Raza
Index

Mujib Alam Mujib Alam is Assistant Professor at the Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. His primary areas of research and teaching are contemporary Turkish studies. He holds MPhil and PhD degrees in West Asian (Middle Eastern) studies, specialising in Turkish studies, from New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. Previously he completed his BA and MA in Political Science from Utkal University and Aligarh’s Muslim University respectively. He has worked as an HERMES Post-Doctoral fellow (2005–06) at the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI) and Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (MSH), Paris, France. His research specialisations include contemporary Turkish politics and foreign policy, the role of military and Islam in Turkish politics and society, West Asian Politics and IR, conflict & peace studies of West Asia, international organisations etc. He has been keenly following contemporary Turkish politics and foreign policy for about two decades. His work gets regularly published; he also presents papers at national and international conferences/seminars both in India and abroad. He has contributed several articles in books and journals. His publications include Turkey’s Role in Central Asia and the Caucasus (Monograph, 2005) and Global Politics of the Iraq Crises and India’s Options (co-edited; 2004).