Turkey has often been described as a cultural and geographical bridge between West and East. When the Islamic AKP came to power in Turkey 2002 many critics feared that the country was going to abandon its former Western allies and strengthen their relations with the Arab world instead. The criticism was intensified when the AKP increased Turkey’s bilateral relations with the Middle East and moved closer to former foe’s like Iran and Syria, at the same time as their long-time friendship with Israel experienced serious crisis. The aim and purpose of this thesis is to describe and explain the change in AKP’s foreign policy towards Israel. The research method is a combination of a qualitative text analysis of Turkey’s speeches in the UN General debate and Jakob Gustavsson’s model for explaining foreign policy change. The results show that the Turkish-Israeli relations have deteriorated after the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in 2010, particularly regarding diplomatic relations and military agreements. Based on Gustavsson’s model, possible explanations to AKP’s foreign policy change towards Israel, is structural changes such as a growing economy, a strong Turkish public opinion and new partners, with the Gaza war and the attack on the Freedom Flotilla functioning as catalysts for the deterioration.

O artigo em questão trata da evolução das relações civis-militares na Turquia e de sua estreita vinculação com a política externa do país. A partir de uma análise sobre o desenvolvimento do kemalismo na Turquia, demonstramos como as Forças Armadas conseguiram institucionalizar suas prerrogativas, de forma a ter grande relevância para a formulação da política externa turca. Ao longo da Guerra Fria, então, o papel jogado pelos militares fez com que Ancara se mantivesse alinhado ao Ocidente, com receio da ascensão de movimentos contrários, como o marxismo, o islamismo e o curdismo. No entanto, a partir de 1999, observamos o processo contrário, com o afastamento das Forças Armadas dos centros de decisão da política turca. Esse fenômeno foi acentuado a partir de 2002, com a emergência do AKP, que levou os setores religiosos ao governo e intensificou o declínio dos militares enquanto agentes políticos. Em termos diplomáticos, verificou-se uma transformação significativa da política externa da Turquia, que abandonou a matriz de aliança com o Ocidente em favor de uma estratégia mais regionalista e assertiva. / This article deals with the evolution of civil-military relations in Turkey, and with its strict link with its foreign policy. With that spirit, we analyzed the development of Kemalism in Turkey and we showed how the Turkish Armed Forces managed to institutionalize their prerogatives, so they could play a paramount role to the formulation of Turkish foreign policy. During the Cold War, therefore, it meant the Ankara has always been a close ally to the West, especially because Army feared the rise of antagonist political movements such as Marxism, Islamism and Kurdism. However, from 1999, we can observe the exact opposite phenomenon, because the Turkish Armed Forces have been ostracized when it comes to the Turkish political process. This fact was deeply intensified since 2002, when the AKP won the general elections. The AKP victory brought some religious segments to the core of the government and that deepen the military decline as political actors. Diplomatically, we remarked a significant shift in Turkish foreign policy, once Turkey abandoned its unquestionable alliance with the West in favor of a more assertive and regionalist strategy.

O artigo em questão trata da evolução das relações civis-militares na Turquia e de sua estreita vinculação com a política externa do país. A partir de uma análise sobre o desenvolvimento do kemalismo na Turquia, demonstramos como as Forças Armadas conseguiram institucionalizar suas prerrogativas, de forma a ter grande relevância para a formulação da política externa turca. Ao longo da Guerra Fria, então, o papel jogado pelos militares fez com que Ancara se mantivesse alinhado ao Ocidente, com receio da ascensão de movimentos contrários, como o marxismo, o islamismo e o curdismo. No entanto, a partir de 1999, observamos o processo contrário, com o afastamento das Forças Armadas dos centros de decisão da política turca. Esse fenômeno foi acentuado a partir de 2002, com a emergência do AKP, que levou os setores religiosos ao governo e intensificou o declínio dos militares enquanto agentes políticos. Em termos diplomáticos, verificou-se uma transformação significativa da política externa da Turquia, que abandonou a matriz de aliança com o Ocidente em favor de uma estratégia mais regionalista e assertiva. / This article deals with the evolution of civil-military relations in Turkey, and with its strict link with its foreign policy. With that spirit, we analyzed the development of Kemalism in Turkey and we showed how the Turkish Armed Forces managed to institutionalize their prerogatives, so they could play a paramount role to the formulation of Turkish foreign policy. During the Cold War, therefore, it meant the Ankara has always been a close ally to the West, especially because Army feared the rise of antagonist political movements such as Marxism, Islamism and Kurdism. However, from 1999, we can observe the exact opposite phenomenon, because the Turkish Armed Forces have been ostracized when it comes to the Turkish political process. This fact was deeply intensified since 2002, when the AKP won the general elections. The AKP victory brought some religious segments to the core of the government and that deepen the military decline as political actors. Diplomatically, we remarked a significant shift in Turkish foreign policy, once Turkey abandoned its unquestionable alliance with the West in favor of a more assertive and regionalist strategy.

O artigo em questão trata da evolução das relações civis-militares na Turquia e de sua estreita vinculação com a política externa do país. A partir de uma análise sobre o desenvolvimento do kemalismo na Turquia, demonstramos como as Forças Armadas conseguiram institucionalizar suas prerrogativas, de forma a ter grande relevância para a formulação da política externa turca. Ao longo da Guerra Fria, então, o papel jogado pelos militares fez com que Ancara se mantivesse alinhado ao Ocidente, com receio da ascensão de movimentos contrários, como o marxismo, o islamismo e o curdismo. No entanto, a partir de 1999, observamos o processo contrário, com o afastamento das Forças Armadas dos centros de decisão da política turca. Esse fenômeno foi acentuado a partir de 2002, com a emergência do AKP, que levou os setores religiosos ao governo e intensificou o declínio dos militares enquanto agentes políticos. Em termos diplomáticos, verificou-se uma transformação significativa da política externa da Turquia, que abandonou a matriz de aliança com o Ocidente em favor de uma estratégia mais regionalista e assertiva. / This article deals with the evolution of civil-military relations in Turkey, and with its strict link with its foreign policy. With that spirit, we analyzed the development of Kemalism in Turkey and we showed how the Turkish Armed Forces managed to institutionalize their prerogatives, so they could play a paramount role to the formulation of Turkish foreign policy. During the Cold War, therefore, it meant the Ankara has always been a close ally to the West, especially because Army feared the rise of antagonist political movements such as Marxism, Islamism and Kurdism. However, from 1999, we can observe the exact opposite phenomenon, because the Turkish Armed Forces have been ostracized when it comes to the Turkish political process. This fact was deeply intensified since 2002, when the AKP won the general elections. The AKP victory brought some religious segments to the core of the government and that deepen the military decline as political actors. Diplomatically, we remarked a significant shift in Turkish foreign policy, once Turkey abandoned its unquestionable alliance with the West in favor of a more assertive and regionalist strategy.

The principal aims of the research are to identify the nature and scope of Turkish foreign policy change towards Iran in the period 2002-2012 - the first ten years of the successive governments of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Then, individual sources of foreign policy change and their respective roles in shaping Turkish foreign policy toward Iran will be investigated. As the research is theoretically grounded in the subfield of foreign policy analysis known as foreign policy change, the reader is familiarized with a variety of different models used in the study of foreign policy change. In order to assess the relevance of the individual sources, an alternative explanatory model is designed. The application of the designed foreign policy model highlights the necessity of applying a wider approach in the quest to assess Turkish foreign policy change, taking into account the different domestic and international sources in order to achieve a comprehensive explanation that can evaluate the relative power of international and domestic political, economic, and ideational sources serving as its driving mechanisms. The role of economic factors - long seen as fundamental in shaping Turkey's foreign policy toward its neighbors - and the role of security concerns are subsequently identified as...

This thesis aims to analyze the transformations of concept of secularism from a long- term perspective of the formation and consolidation of Turkish republic between 1923 - 2013. Central contention is that secularism, as a social phenomenon, was originally understood as an integral part of state-led modernization project, sponsored by Turkish armed forces between 1920s and early 1980s. However since late 1980s and particularly under AKP governments (2002 - 2014) secularism - branded as Kemalism has gradually become a subject of intense conflicts and new interpretations seeking to reconcile Turkish secularist principles with new forms of public participation driven by Islamic symbols. Keywords Democracy, secularism, authoritarian regime, Kemalism, army, political parties, AKP, islam, religious symbols, islamic clothing

This research critically challenges the conventional understanding of terrorism, which is influenced by the views of states that label certain non-state actors as terrorists and their action as terrorism. The research demonstrates that there is a need to critically study the characteristics of every armed conflict constructed as terrorism. This is the case of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict, which is constructed in the Turkish official discourse as a phenomenon of terrorism perpetrated by the PKK. In addition, the Turkish narrative of terrorism is not limited to the PKK, but it transcends to the Syrian Kurdish PYD and YPG, and other Kurdish movements and individuals. The findings of this research reveal that the Turkish official narrative of terrorism functions to achieve two main goals. The first goal is to delegitimize the PKK and the other Kurdish movements. The second goal is to legitimize the repressive policies of the Turkish authorities regarding these movements in particular and the Kurds in general. This is interconnected with the denial of the existence of the Kurdish question and framing it in the context of the narrative of terrorism. The research also reveals that the language and policy of peace and war could change according to the interests of states’ elites. This is the case of the approach of the Turkish authorities regarding the Kurdish question, which changed under the influence of the elections and voting agendas of Erdogan and AKP. The research found that during the peace process and before the June 2015 elections, the approach of Turkish authorities was pro-peace negotiations and non-military action. However, as the AKP was not able to secure the majority that it sought in the June elections, the AKP authorities abandoned the peace process and adopted a military campaign and repressive policies. The latter matched the appeal of the AKP leadership to the votes of nationalist Turks in the November 2015 elections and the April 2017 referendum. / The full text was made available after embargo; 28th August 2020

The Islamization of the Turkish state has been the center of much attention since the beginning of Erdoğan’s time in government, and yet a noticeable lack of contemporary analysis surrounding Islam in Turkish foreign policy can be observed. Drawing from the IR theories of liberalism and constructivism, this paper aims to partially fill this gap by examining the effects of Islam on Turkey’s foreign policy between 2014-2020 by means of a qualitative case study.  The paper argues that the changes made to certain institutions have permitted Islamic values to affect Turkey’s foreign policy, and that Islam has in many regards been transformed into an instrument of the AKP’s soft power abroad. This has had the effect of both improving and deteriorating Turkish economic and political cooperation with other countries. Furthermore, Islamic values and beliefs appear to have both positive and negative implications on Turkey’s relationships with many countries, while the furthering of relations with Israel and China indicate an approach devoid from any Islamic influence. It is summarily argued that Islam is present in Turkey’s foreign policy, albeit with great inconsistency.