<p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;"><a fr-original-style="" href="https://twitter.com/AbdullahEsin" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(9, 9, 9); text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent; outline: none; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: auto; box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><strong fr-original-style="" style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Abdullah Esin</strong></a></p><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">In 2002, the AK Party government, which came to power alone, initiated a process of democratic opening in both domestic and foreign policy. Coming to power after the 2001 crisis, the AK Party was making sweeping reforms in the economy by fulfilling the obligations of the stand-by agreement with the IMF while projecting a democratic and reformist image in the political arena.</p><h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><strong fr-original-style="" style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">The beginning of negotiations with the European Union</strong></h2><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">On the other hand, the government, which pursued an active foreign policy, was portrayed as a democratic role model among Middle Eastern countries by the international press and think tanks. Undoubtedly, the EU accession process played a significant role in the democratic portrayed image in domestic and foreign policy in the early years of the AK Party's rule. Many scholars analyzing the foreign policy of the AK Party period also state that EU membership functioned as an anchor for the progressive policies pursued between 2002 and 2007.</p><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">At the 1999 Helsinki Summit, Turkey's candidacy for EU membership had officially been approved and it had clearly stated that Turkey would be on an equal footing with other nominee countries. Political reforms, which were accepted as a condition for the opening accession negotiations, started to be implemented rapidly in the first term of the AK Party government. Between 2002 and 2004, 8 harmonization packages and 2 constitutional packages in 2001 and 2004 were adopted by the Parliament. At the Brussels Summit in 2004, it was stated that Turkey had sufficiently met the political standards, and it had decided to start negotiations on October 3, 2005.</p><p fr-original-style="text-align: center;" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;"><img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/6/5/1656673449547.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="1.44" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">Reuters</p><h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><strong fr-original-style="" style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">EU anchor lost</strong></h2><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">However, during this period, Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus took a stance against Turkey's membership, and Angela Merkel's and Nicolas Sarkozy's governments in Germany and France, respectively, began a process that slowed down and subsequently froze Turkey's membership process. The AK Party government had pursued a democratic and harmonious line in domestic and foreign policy in the first years of rule as a requirement of the EU membership goal. Then they began to change their political line with the increasing signals that the membership process would not lead to a positive outcome. In a way, it is possible to say that the EU anchor, which had the driving force behind Turkey's democratization reforms, has been lost.</p><h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><strong fr-original-style="" style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">From zero problems with neighbors to precious loneliness</strong></h2><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">We can say that the Arab Spring, which started in 2010, was the turning point for the AK Party government. Because after this time, they adopted a more aggressive and authoritarian policy in both domestic and foreign policy with the freezing of the EU membership process and the diminishing expectations that it would continue. The government, which had adopted the principle of<strong fr-original-style="" style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;"zero problems with neighbors"</strong> until then, put forward the thesis that the Arab Spring created a historical opportunity for Turkey.</p><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">This strategy, also known as "Neo-Ottomanism" in political science, claimed that Turkey should use its historical ties and political influence to support the people rising against the authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and thus expand its sphere of influence. The aggressive and expansionist Neo-Ottomanist foreign policy doctrine, championed and implemented by then Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, quickly shifted Turkish foreign policy from the axis of "zero problems with neighbors" to the axis of<strong fr-original-style="" style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;</strong>"precious isolation". With the failure of the Ikhwanist movements, which had an ideological affinity with the AK Party government, diplomatic relations between Turkey and the newly established regimes in the region became strained and reached a breaking point. The Arab Spring was the starting point of the diplomatic crises with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.</p><h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><strong fr-original-style="" style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Turning towards Eurasia</strong></h2><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">Turkey's aggressive and authoritarian transformation in domestic and foreign politics has negatively affected its relations with Western countries, particularly the US and the EU. Although this was a mutually fortifying process, the government's militarist and aggressive foreign policy strategy led to the questioning of its alliance with the West. In the same period, Russia and China's establishment of alternative formations challenging western economic and military institutions, such as the BRICS or the Shanghai Five, created a chance for the AK Party government to form new alliances that would reduce the cost of authoritarianism. President Erdoğan's insistence on Turkey's inclusion in the BRICS and the Shanghai Five proves this thesis.</p><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;"><img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/6/5/1656673712295.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="1.87" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"></p><p fr-original-style="text-align: center;" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">Reuters</p><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">While developing economic relations with the People's Republic of China, Turkey has also begun to increase military partnerships with Russia. The purchase of S-400 air defense systems from Russia forced Turkey to choose between the Western alliance and the Russia-China axis. The harsh reactions from the US and NATO after the acquisition of the S-400s and Turkey's exclusion from the F-35 fighter jet program, which Turkey is a partner, have damaged Turkey's relations with the western alliance exceedingly.</p><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">The problems in sharing natural gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean and the attempt to exclude Turkey from the region through the alliance formed by Greece-Israel-Egypt-Southern Cyprus led to the acceleration of aggressive and militarist foreign policy. In the same period, Turkey's open support for Azerbaijan against Armenia and the significant role of the UCAVs sent to Azerbaijan in winning the war provided space for increased defense industry investments and the expansion of the militarist foreign policy approach.</p><h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><strong fr-original-style="" style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Policy of rebalancing</strong></h2><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">More recently, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has ushered in a new era in Eurasia and Europe, which has necessitated a shift in Turkish foreign policy towards a balanced policy. On the other hand, Turkey's desire to overcome its isolation in the Eastern Mediterranean and not to be left out of the re-emerging alliances in the Middle East paved the way for a new process of opening up with the countries in the region.</p><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;">The recent normalization and alliance processes with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Armenia show that the AK Party government, which is in the midst of both an economic and political crisis, cannot continue its aggressive-militarist foreign policy approach any longer and has turned to a politics of balance.</p><p fr-original-style="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;"><br fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></p>

stand-by ile ilgili hikayeler