The Justice and Development Party’s Order Building Foreign Policy Discourse and the Middle East Cover Image

Ak Parti’nin Düzen Kurucu Diş Politika Söylemi Ve Ortadoğu
The Justice and Development Party’s Order Building Foreign Policy Discourse and the Middle East

Author(s): Gökhan Telatar
Subject(s): International relations/trade, Politics and society, Sociology of Politics, Politics of History/Memory
Published by: Rasim Özgür DÖNMEZ
Keywords: Ak Party; Order Building; Iraq War; Iran’s Nuclear Activities; Greater Middle East Project; Arab Spring;

Summary/Abstract: The Ak Party administration argued that Turkey has neglected its historical legacy and could not use the advantages of its rich historical potential in its foreign policy. However Turkey was supposed to pursue an active foreign policy that goes beyond security fears and directs developments rather than having a reaction-based foreign policy as a center country with multiple regional identities. Such a foreign policy would have transformed Turkey from the center country to the global power. To this end, the Ak Party administration asserted that Turkey should pursue an order building foreign policy. In other words, Turkey was supposed to lead the changes of regional and international orders. Upon the US’s initiation of a new Middle Eastern order building period in the context of the war on terrorism after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, Turkey embarked to influence on this period. The aim of this article is analyzing of the Ak Party administration’s order building role in the case of its Middle East policies after the September 11 era. It will be examined whether Turkey has been successful in acting as an order building actor in the Middle East in the formation of new order after the September 11 era. Thus it will have been revealed which consequences should be taken from the Ak Party administration’s policies in the new Middle Eastern order building period between Iraq war and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Finally, the Ak Party administration’s policies toward the Arab Spring that has been changing Middle East order again will be reviewed in order to analyze whether the administration has been successful to take consequences and to revise its policies toward the Middle East conform to these lessons.

  • Issue Year: 7/2015
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 490-523
  • Page Count: 34
  • Language: Turkish