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11. Rising Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean: Implications for Turkish Foreign Policy

Author:
Ebru Oğurlu
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Over the last few years, the Eastern Mediterranean has been increasingly fraught with growing competition between regional players, most notably Turkey, Cyprus, and Israel, signalling an apparent return of power politics in regional relations. Of all actors involved, Turkey stands out for being both an ever more influential power and a source of serious concern to other countries in the region due to its greater assertiveness and perceived hegemonic ambitions. Against the backdrop of recent regional developments and their international implications, including the dispute over drilling rights off Cyprus' coasts, Turkey's image as a constructive and dialogue-oriented country, a critical achievement pursued by a generation of Turkish politicians, diplomats and officials, risks being replaced by one of an antagonistic/assertive power. Facing the first serious challenge to its claim to embody a benign model as a secular Muslim democracy and a responsible international actor, Turkey should not indulge in emotional reactions. It should opt instead for a more moderate and balanced approach based on the assumption that only cooperation and constructive dialogue, even with rival countries, can help it realize its ambition of being the regional pivot.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Democratization, Development, Islam, and Power Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Middle East, Israel, Greece, Asia, Colombia, and Cyprus

12. Cypriot Perceptions of Turkey

Author:
Christalla Yakinthou and Rebecca Bryant
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
This report contains the findings of TESEV Foreign Policy Program’s survey of the perception of Turkey in Cyprus. Conducted by Rebecca Bryant and Christalla Yakinthou, the survey aims to understand and represent Turkish and Greek Cypriot assessments of their respective relationships with Turkey today. The report uses a set of fifty extended interviews to present Cypriots’ anxieties, hopes, and fears regarding their relationships with Turkey and possibilities for the future. The report reveals some striking findings. While Turkish Cypriots demand sovereign equality from Turkey; Greek Cypriots are more concerned with the economic performance of Turkey and Greece, rather than the role of Turkey on the future of the island. Both sides think of Turkey’s military presence on the island as an issue and it is also widely believed that Turkey should adopt a more constructive attitude and take concrete steps towards a long-term solution. u rapor TESEV Dış Politika Programı’nın Kıbrıs’ta Türkiye algısını anlamaya yönelik çalışmasının detaylı sonuçlarını içermektedir. Rebecca Bryant ve Christalla Yakinthou tarafından yürütülen bu çalışma, Kıbrıslı Türk ve Rumların Türkiye ile olan ilişkilerini nasıl değerlendirdikleri üzerinde durmaktadır. Araştırma ada genelinde çeşitli kanaat önderleriyle yapılan elli derinlemesine mülakat aracılığıyla Kıbrıslıların Türkiye ile ilgili görüş ve beklentilerini ortaya koymaktadır.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Sovereignty, Territorial Disputes, and Economy
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Greece, Cyprus, and Mediterranean

13. Foreign Policy Perceptions in Turkey

Author:
Aybars Görgülü, Enis Erdem Aydın, Mensur Akgün, and Sabiha Senyücel Gündoğar
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
This report contains the results of a survey conducted on 6-14th December 2010 by KA Research that has been evaluated by TESEV Foreign Policy Programme. Based on a sample size of 1,000, the survey aims to understand the perception of foreign policy in Turkey. A first of its kind for TESEV, the survey includes striking findings that may be of interest to decision-makers in Turkey and those following Turkey around the world. This report finds many results for the opinion on the foreign policy vision of Turkey concerning the Turkish government, the US government, the EU and the Middle East.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Cyprus, United States of America, and European Union

14. The "new" Turkish foreign policy and its implications for Norwegian peacebuilding

Author:
Jean-Paul Marthoz
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
This paper is based on interviews with diplomats, experts and political analysts and provides an overview of Turkey's foreign policy, particularly in relation to peacebuilding. In the past year, Turkey has moved to the centre stage on the international scene. After making the headlines with its joint mediation initiative with Brazil on Iran's nuclear issue, in May Ankara clashed with Israel over the storming of the Gaza-bound “humanitarian flotilla”. Suddenly all eyes were on a country situated in this most turbulent and strategic region of the world – a country that had appeared at least until recently to be a reliable and predictable ally of the West, and of Israel. However, the country's actions and reactions should not have come as a surprise. Over the past ten years Turkey has been busy developing a very active foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East and Central Asia. It has reached out to countries traditionally considered as adversaries, such as Russia, Iran and Syria. Ankara has also not been afraid to express its differences and diverge from the West on certain issues, from Cyprus to Armenia to Palestine.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Israel, Asia, Palestine, Armenia, Syria, and Cyprus

15. Rethinking Foreign Policy in Turkey as a Securitized Domain: The Case of Cyprus

Author:
Alper Kaliber
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
The implications of the Cyprus issue in contemporary Turkish domestic and foreign policues are far more complicated than in previous decades. Particularly with the beginning of the new millennium the heavily securitized and successfully bureaucratised Cyprus issue has turned out to be the main "discursive battlefield" of the polarisation among the ruling elites in Turkey. The present article aims at re-examining Turkey's security discourse on Cyprus with particular reference to its implications in the (re)configuration of political balances and power relations between the conservative state elite and the reformist political elite in Turkey. In this respect, it concludes that the security language premised on the constant assertion of such concepts as "national defence and security, national unity and integrity, geo-strategic importance and vital threats" has been operational in inscribing the legitimate boundaries of the political sphere.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Turkey and Cyprus