The Role of the North Atlantic Treaty on Turkey’s Foreign Policy Behavior in the Region
Turkey’s foreign policy over the past seven years, especially after the political and social developments known as the Islamic Awakening, has undergone many ups and downs. The politicians of the ruling Justice and Development Party, prior to the domino-like overthrow of the rulers of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, had succeeded in presenting Turkey, by relying on the country’s soft power in economic, political, and cultural spheres, as a distinguished model to other countries of the region. The perspective of Turkey’s Strategic Depth doctrine had promoted increasing convergence and interaction with neighboring countries. Nevertheless, numerous variables have influenced the shift in Turkey’s foreign policy toward a negative and aggressive outlook, particularly in relation to regional developments such as the Karabakh war, ISIS, Syria, and the issue of the Persian Gulf, which, combined with Turkey’s perspective on Europeanization and especially the role of NATO in the country, has become increasingly complex. The present research examines the impact of NATO on Turkey’s foreign policy toward neighboring states and raises the question of what effect NATO has on Turkey’s approach toward its neighbors. For this purpose, the study, using a descriptive-analytical method and drawing upon library research and interviews with experts, has concluded that Turkey’s Europeanization perspective after the rise to power of the Justice and Development Party has led to the growing influence of NATO in the country, which in turn has resulted in greater alignment of Turkey’s foreign policy and ultimately caused concern among countries not aligned with Turkey.
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