The Foreign Policy of Modern Turkey ─ Power and the Ideology of Eurasianism

In the last three decades, Turkey has attempted to build close relationships with Russia, Iran and the Turkic World. As a result, there has been ongoing debate about the extent to which Turkey's international relations axis is shifting eastwards. Ozgur Tufekci argues that Eurasianist ideology has been fundamental to Turkish foreign policy and continues to have influence today. The author first explores the historical roots of Eurasianism in the 19th century, comparing this to Neo-Eurasianism and Pan-Slavism. The Özal era (1983-1993), the Cem era (1997-2002) and Davuto?lu era (since 2003) are then examined to reveal how foreign policy making has been informed by discourses of Eurasianism, and how Eurasianist ideas were implemented through internal and external socio-economic and political factors.

Ozgur Tufekci is currently Lecturer in the Department of International Relations at Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey. He completed his PhD at Coventry University in the Centre for Trust, Peace & Social Relations and at King’s College London in the Department of War Studies. He is Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Global Analysis and has published in the journals The Arab World Geographer, Caucasus International as well as in various books on Turkish Foreign Policy and Turkish Politics