THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE

Abstract

The article deals with the theoretical foundations of the foreign policy of the Republic of Türkiye in
the modern era. The foreign policy of the Justice and Development Party (JDP), which came to power in
2002, differed from that of previous governments. In the context of the political processes taking place in
the world and the formation of a new world order, Türkiye abandoned the policy of self-isolation that it
pursued during the Cold War and initiated to pursue an active policy in the regions that once were in the
sphere of influence of the former Ottoman Empire. It tried to use the most of the opportunities to ensure his
geopolitical interests in the Balkans, the Middle East and the South Caucasus. It began to be felt that
Türkiye 's foreign policy was formed on the basis of the ideas of neo-Ottomanism and neo-Pan-Turkism.
To do this, Türkiye used the “soft power” used in international relations, and has achieved a number of
successes in this direction. However, under the influence of the processes taking place in the Middle East
after the “Arab Spring”, the emergence of new security threats in the region and serious problems for
Türkiye 's security caused a transition from “soft power” to “hard power” in foreign policy. Nowadays,
Türkiye is pursuing a foreign policy course based more on realpolitik