The Eastern Mediterranean in Turkish Foreign Policy: From the Defensive to the Assertive

Abstract

The eastern Mediterranean offers a good case study for the examination of changes and continuities in Turkish foreign policy and geopolitical thinking more broadly. The question, then, would be: How has the strategic significance of the eastern Mediterranean changed, if at all, for Turkey since the Republic’s establishment, and why? To address this question, I first look at the importance and role of the eastern Mediterranean for Turkey during the first years after its establishment (1923), the Cold War and the post-Cold War period, until the election of the AKP. The second section focuses on the period of AKP governance, and accounts not only for the changes in Turkish foreign policy but also for the transitions in the region’s balances of power. The general argument is that, despite some ideological and strategic fluctuations, the eastern Mediterranean during the twentieth century was seen as a key geopolitical space for the defence of Turkey’s borders, sovereignty and national security. In the twenty-first century, under the AKP, things have changed significantly. While the eastern Mediterranean remains important for Turkish national security, it has also become an area where Turkish foreign policy activism has expanded and revisionist aspirations have been manifested, as well as a means for power projection further abroad.