Foreign relations of Turkey

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Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a transcontinental country known as the "gateway from Europe to the Middle East". Because of this important position, Turkey's foreign relations play a large role in how this region functions.^[1]

The Republic of Turkey was founded on 1 November 1923, with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as the first President of Turkey. He implemented many reforms in the country, including the secularization of Turkey, lessening the importance of Islam. Because of these major reforms in the country, their foreign relations were less important, and the country was relatively isolated on an international level.^[1]

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk died in 1938, and his death marked the start for a new period in Turkish foreign relations. The main focus of this new period was World War II. The new president, İsmet İnönü, was in a difficult position, having to choose between the Allies and the Axis powers. In the end, despite signing a treaty with the United Kingdom and France , but Turkey decided to stay neutral, selling chrome to both sides.^[2] However, just before the end of the war, Turkey declared war on Germany and Japan in February 1945. This showed some good will to the Allies, and it allowed Turkey to join the United Nations as one of the fifty-one founding members.^[3]

As mentioned above, Turkey was one of the fifty-one founding members of the United Nations. Turkey also joined the NATO (North Atlantic Trade Organization) in 1952. The country received Marshall Plan aid, a financial support plan designed by the United States to stop the Soviet Union from spreading communism. This shows Turkey's good relations with the West during the Cold War.

After the Cold War had ended and the Soviet Union had been dissolved, Turkey went into a process to enter the European Union, which still has not happened yet. Despite this, Turkey can be seen as an intermediary between Russia and the EU, two opposing blocks. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to power as Prime Minister of Turkey in 2003 and became President of Turkey in 2014. Under Erdoğan, Turkey has implemented a policy of Neo-Ottomanism.^[4] This policy means that Turkey should honour its Ottoman heritage by maintaining strong relations with all regions formerly under Ottoman rule. This has led to Turkey trying to get more power in neighbouring regions, like the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus. Additionally, Turkey has shifted away from a Western-oriented foreign policy under Erdoğan, instead having a less democratic and more pro-Russian, pro-Chinese approach. This is a cause for concern for some in the West.^[5]

Turkey has been a NATO member since 1952, seeking protection from the threat formed by the Soviet Union.^[6] Turkey has been involved in different NATO operations and training programs, and houses various military bases and airbases for NATO. They have participated on NATO's side in the Korean War before they had joined NATO, sent troops to Afghanistan, and received NATO support to defend themselves from the threat of potential airstrikes formed by the Syrian Civil War. ^[7] In the first half of 2022, Turkey stood central in NATO. Due to the threat of Russia, EU members Sweden and Finland wanted to enter NATO. All member states accepted except for Turkey, stating as reason that these states gave asylum to Turkish refugees, deemed to be migrants by the Turkish state. These people were often part of organisations like the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the Democratic Union Party (Syria) (PYD), or the People's Defense Units (YPG), and the Turkish state says that these are terrorist organisations.

The European Union (EU) and Turkey established relations in 1959, and made their relations formal in 1963 with the Ankara Agreement. The EU and Turkey are also members of the European Union-Turkey Customs Union. Turkey's foreign relations policies have historically been focussed on relationships with the Western world, moving to the historical goal of EU membership. As Turkey's AKP-led government has put more focus on Turkey's regional presence in the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus, the relationship with the Western world has been deteriorating and negotiations of accession to the EU have come to a halt.^[8]

Turkey was one of the first few members to join the Council of Europe in 1950.^[9] Since the 1963 Ankara Agreement, relations between Turkey and the European Union were improving and in 1987, Turkey applied for membership to the European Economic Community, which later became the European Union. The negotiations for accession are still ongoing, but have come to a standstill in recent years after president Erdogan's crackdown on supporters of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, the presidential powers created by the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum and Turkey's path to a more autocratic form of government.^[10] Although Turkey is not a member of the EU, several institutions have been implemented based on the Ankara Agreement.

Since the 2016 Turkish purges, relations with the EU have deteriorated significantly.^[11] Some of the most notable issues affecting these relations are the Cyprus dispute, the Visa liberation process, the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, human rights violations and the Turkish opposition to Finnish and Swedish NATO membership.^{[12] [13] [14] [15]} Arguably the most pressing issue is the Turkish refugee crisis. Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey has taken nearly 4 million refugees.^[16] Many of these refugees moved on to Europe, sparking the 2015 European migrant crisis. In 2016, the EU and Turkey made a 'refugee deal', which resulted in the EU giving financial support to Turkey to strengthen its borders and host refugees.^[17]

Turkey has an extensive network of embassies and consulates around the world, representing Turkey and providing consular services for Turkish citizens abroad. Turkey has the 5th largest diplomatic network globally, with 258 diplomatic and consular missions worldwide serving as a vital link between Turkey and the rest of the world and promoting trade, culture and diplomatic relations.^[18] Turkey is also part of 25 International Organizations.

The foreign policy of Turkey since the AKP took power in 2002 is commonly called "Neo-Ottomanism".^[19] This political ideology encourages Turkish nationalism, economic neoliberalism, more engagement in neighbouring regions and Turkey as leader of the Islamic world.^[20] This has resulted in improved relations with the Middle East, especially with Iraq, Iran and Syria. Turkey currently has 15 diplomatic missions in the Middle East.^[21]

Turkey's relation with Africa has been steadily improving since 1998. Trade between Turkey and Sub-Saharan Africa has increased more than tenfold from 1998 to 2015.^[22] Turkey has 39 diplomatic missions in Africa.^[23]

In the Americas, Turkey maintains very good relations with the United States of America. The two countries maintain excellent strategic, cultural, public and most importantly military relations. Throughout the Americas, Turkey has 29 diplomatic missions.^[24]

Turkey has been improving relations with Asia since the AKP took power, especially with its Middle-Eastern neighbours and Russia and China. Relations with Oceania have remained well and largely unchanged for decades. Turkey has 53 diplomatic missions in Asia and Oceania.^[25]