Turkey's ‘double gravity’ predicament: the foreign policy of a newly activist power

In November 2012 it was ten years since the Justice and Development Party became the party of government in Turkey. During that time, it has raised its profile abroad and sought to project its influence. In particular, it has tried to increase its impact on the European Union and the Middle East—the...

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Main Author: Robins, P
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Chatham House 2013
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author Robins, P
author_facet Robins, P
author_sort Robins, P
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description In November 2012 it was ten years since the Justice and Development Party became the party of government in Turkey. During that time, it has raised its profile abroad and sought to project its influence. In particular, it has tried to increase its impact on the European Union and the Middle East—the primary regions to which Turkey lies adjacent. This approach has been parcelled up in the name of turning Turkey from a state of marginal importance into a ‘centre’ country. The relationship to the EU got off to a good start; Turkey adopted liberal EU norms wholesale, before relations soured over Cyprus and membership in general. By 2006, ties were moribund. Links with the Middle East also started well. Turkey avoided the worst effects of the 2003 Iraq war; and its stature was at its zenith in the early months of the ‘Arab Spring’, when it raised the slogan ‘let the people decide’. But this was hubris. By the summer of 2011, it had become clear that Turkey had miscalculated both with regard to the timing of regime change in Syria and its own leverage, whether on the ground or with NATO. Rather than a new, transregional power house, Turkey looked tentative, frequently inert and increasingly dependent on NATO. Turkey remains a country subject to the highly contrasting twin gravities of the EU and the Middle East in spite of its leadership aspirations and its will to accomplish more
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spelling oxford-uuid:fe3e57c8-6344-457d-bc13-a3f6e24e21a52022-03-27T13:34:51ZTurkey's ‘double gravity’ predicament: the foreign policy of a newly activist powerJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:fe3e57c8-6344-457d-bc13-a3f6e24e21a5EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordChatham House2013Robins, PIn November 2012 it was ten years since the Justice and Development Party became the party of government in Turkey. During that time, it has raised its profile abroad and sought to project its influence. In particular, it has tried to increase its impact on the European Union and the Middle East—the primary regions to which Turkey lies adjacent. This approach has been parcelled up in the name of turning Turkey from a state of marginal importance into a ‘centre’ country. The relationship to the EU got off to a good start; Turkey adopted liberal EU norms wholesale, before relations soured over Cyprus and membership in general. By 2006, ties were moribund. Links with the Middle East also started well. Turkey avoided the worst effects of the 2003 Iraq war; and its stature was at its zenith in the early months of the ‘Arab Spring’, when it raised the slogan ‘let the people decide’. But this was hubris. By the summer of 2011, it had become clear that Turkey had miscalculated both with regard to the timing of regime change in Syria and its own leverage, whether on the ground or with NATO. Rather than a new, transregional power house, Turkey looked tentative, frequently inert and increasingly dependent on NATO. Turkey remains a country subject to the highly contrasting twin gravities of the EU and the Middle East in spite of its leadership aspirations and its will to accomplish more
spellingShingle Robins, P
Turkey's ‘double gravity’ predicament: the foreign policy of a newly activist power
title Turkey's ‘double gravity’ predicament: the foreign policy of a newly activist power
title_full Turkey's ‘double gravity’ predicament: the foreign policy of a newly activist power
title_fullStr Turkey's ‘double gravity’ predicament: the foreign policy of a newly activist power
title_full_unstemmed Turkey's ‘double gravity’ predicament: the foreign policy of a newly activist power
title_short Turkey's ‘double gravity’ predicament: the foreign policy of a newly activist power
title_sort turkey s double gravity predicament the foreign policy of a newly activist power
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