Axis Shift in Turkish foreign policy during AKP administration: New fundamental foreign policy: Principles and challenges

Abstract

Turkish foreign policy has evolved since 1923. The Second World War, the Cold War and the post-Cold War period externally and separatist and Islamist movements, military interventions and economic instabilities domestically designate Turkish foreign policy until new millennium. Since 2002, with arrival of the AKP, foreign policy decisions had a rapid transformation through new set of foreign policy principles. Ahmet Davutoğlu perceived as most influential person on this new foreign policy line, he believes that Turkey has strategic depth and he puts his foreign policy objectives in practice especially when he became a Foreign Minister of Turkey in 2009. The purpose of this study is to evaluate Turkish foreign policy of current AKP administration and past administrations and analyze that if there is an ―axis shift‖ in Turkish foreign policy. In addition, this research work is based on the analysis of AKP administration‘s new fundamental foreign policy principles. While analyzing Turkey‘s new role in world affairs and its relations with other actors, challenges need to be taken into consideration because outcome of external and domestic problems affects foreign policy decision making process. So this study also analyzes current external and internal challenges against AKP‘s set forth principles.