From soft power to hard power; The evolution of Turkey's foreign policy during the period of the Justice and Development Party towards the Middle East

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD in International Relations, Department of International Relations, Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Doctoral student of International Relations, Department of International Relations, Tehran University Campus, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

After the Justice and Development Party came to power in 2002, the traditional policy of westernization of Turkey was somewhat deviated and an active regional foreign policy was adopted. Until the Arab Spring developments in 2011, Turkey's foreign policy towards the Middle East continued based on the policy of neo-Ottomanism and influence based on soft power. From 2011 onwards, shaping the emerging order of the region became Turkey's main priority. After the coup in 2016, the Party's foreign policy became more independent, pragmatic and militaristic than before. The study aims to investigate these changes with the method of process tracing, the question is: How can the changes in the foreign policy of Party towards the Middle East, from the use of soft power to the use of military tools, be explained? Tracing the process shows that from 2002 to 2024, there were clear signs of a realistic foreign policy. In all this time, interest-centeredness, opportunism, pragmatism and nationalism have been the basis of the policies of the elites of the Justice and Development Party.

Keywords

World Politics
Volume 13, Issue 4 - Serial Number 50
December 2024
Pages 131-155

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