The Turkish Foreign Policy in the Era of Erdogan: a threat to peace in the Balkans?
Start Date
10-2-2021 11:00 AM
End Date
10-2-2021 12:15 PM
Proposal Type
Presentation
Proposal Description
Abstract:
Turkey’s foreign policy towards the Balkans has increasingly expanded in the past two decades. As an important NATO member and host to numerous U.S. military bases the country plays a strategic role in the region by frequently engaging in risky moves towards other countries such as Russia and Greece. Its political, economic and cultural influence on most of the countries in the Balkans not only creates trade opportunities and fruitful relations as some would suggest, but in the long run also poses challenges to international peace and security. What is more, territorial claims and disputes, political and military ambitions, among which the self-image of a protector and leader of the Muslim world, while facing internal economic crises and democracy failure, send a worrying signal to its neighbors and other countries that once were under the Ottoman empire’s rule. Once again nationalism confronts globalism. In this line of thought, the present study seeks to delineate the main problematic areas of the Turkish foreign policy in the Balkans: from how it is perceived within the nations in the region to possible complications for international peace and security. This is particularly disturbing in the Western Balkans as it remains outside EU’s borders, creating a vacuum for foreign influence. In other words, by creating economic and political dependence, while exercising soft power, Turkey elaborately maintains the role of regional power, seeking further expansion.
The paper explores historical backgrounds as well as statistical and economic data such as population trends, trade relations and arms trade. We suggest that the international community should be more active in the region in terms of the ambitions of Erdogan to have a central role in global politics, otherwise Europe could face lasting implications from a political, economic and peace perspective, including new territorial disputes.
Key words: Balkans, Turkey, foreign policy, international peace and security, Neo-Ottomanism, nationalism, conflicts
The Turkish Foreign Policy in the Era of Erdogan: a threat to peace in the Balkans?
Abstract:
Turkey’s foreign policy towards the Balkans has increasingly expanded in the past two decades. As an important NATO member and host to numerous U.S. military bases the country plays a strategic role in the region by frequently engaging in risky moves towards other countries such as Russia and Greece. Its political, economic and cultural influence on most of the countries in the Balkans not only creates trade opportunities and fruitful relations as some would suggest, but in the long run also poses challenges to international peace and security. What is more, territorial claims and disputes, political and military ambitions, among which the self-image of a protector and leader of the Muslim world, while facing internal economic crises and democracy failure, send a worrying signal to its neighbors and other countries that once were under the Ottoman empire’s rule. Once again nationalism confronts globalism. In this line of thought, the present study seeks to delineate the main problematic areas of the Turkish foreign policy in the Balkans: from how it is perceived within the nations in the region to possible complications for international peace and security. This is particularly disturbing in the Western Balkans as it remains outside EU’s borders, creating a vacuum for foreign influence. In other words, by creating economic and political dependence, while exercising soft power, Turkey elaborately maintains the role of regional power, seeking further expansion.
The paper explores historical backgrounds as well as statistical and economic data such as population trends, trade relations and arms trade. We suggest that the international community should be more active in the region in terms of the ambitions of Erdogan to have a central role in global politics, otherwise Europe could face lasting implications from a political, economic and peace perspective, including new territorial disputes.
Key words: Balkans, Turkey, foreign policy, international peace and security, Neo-Ottomanism, nationalism, conflicts
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