Ideologies and the Western Question in Turkish Foreign Policy: A Neo-classical Realist Perspective

Year 2020, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 105 - 126, 20.12.2019

Ali Şevket Ovalı İlkim Özdikmenli

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.514465

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Growing anti-Western sentiments around the world are currently
manifesting themselves through divergent ways ranging from peaceful resistance movements
to various forms of political violence. In the Middle East, unlike the earlier
partially secular and nationalist Cold War anti-Americanism, the current popular
anti-Western political movements are heavily equipped with Islamism, which
appears to be an all-inclusive ideology and political movement for almost all
dissidents. This applies to Turkey as well, despite its relatively long history
of secularisation. This research particularly aims therefore to discuss the
role of nationalism and Islamism on anti-Western sentiments in Turkish foreign
policy through the lens of neo-classical realism and a new, broader conceptual framework:
The Western Question. The research examines the contours, contents, and
consequences of the problem through comparing two cases, namely the Cyprus problem
of the 1970s and the crisis with the West that has surfaced after Turkey’s
involvement in the Syrian Civil War. 

Keywords

Turkey, Western Question, Neo-Classical Realism, United States, European Union

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