Turkey’s Impending Eastern Turn
Turkey’s
shift away from the West since the July 15 coup attempt is a deliberate
tactic to strengthen the government’s domestic support base and pursue a
more aggressive regional role.
In the aftermath of the
July 15 coup attempt, Turkish foreign policy
seems to have set sail to the East. This shift, in contrast to
prevailing perceptions, reflects a deliberate choice made by Turkey
dating back to the pre-
July 15 period. A desire to boost the
government’s domestic standing and pursue a more independent and
aggressive foreign policy has prompted this change. Current analyses of
Turkish foreign policy tend to urge the West to show
greater solidarity with Turkish elected officials and the citizens who opposed extra-democratic interventions. They suggest that Turkey needs “
sensible friends” at this juncture—during which
tens of thousands of individuals
have been arrested, detained, dismissed, prosecuted, and tortured for
the alleged crimes of coup-plotting or terrorism. Analysts assume the
Turkish government is in survival mode, merely responding to domestic
and international developments. If somehow Turkey were to exit the
Western orbit, blame will rest squarely on the West for failing to
accommodate Turkish demands, as Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
claimed. Turkey needs exceptional treatment at this time of existential threat, the argument goes, and the West needs to “
understand” Turkey, implicitly hinting at the West’s failure to do so in 2013 in Egypt.
http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/?fa=64358&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTWpjME5tWXdOelU1TW1aaiIsInQiOiI0ZU50UkdrTlUyam1jeUVXS2g5Q3lPMVJwVDRYS0lONmRscEJzTjZ6aDBuZHlzNHJnck5HbUptYUZ0aUpJc2VIYmZUZnNvZmhcL1wvYUVaV1wvOUw5ZTBZZ05CYnFLSGJhaldBaVJYaTgzUVBtND0ifQ%3D%3D
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