Still in the West: Turkey’s foreign policy in the post-Arab Spring era

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War, Turkey has reevaluated its relationship with the West in terms of its new security environment. This paper argues that structure has been more important than agency in determining Turkey's foreign policy. Turkey's ruling party, the AKP, initially pursued an independent, nonaligned foreign policy during its early years (2002-2010), but regional instability caused by the Arab Spring has forced the AKP to shift back into its traditional Western alliances in more recent years (2011-2015). This study uses a mixed-methods approach in support of its argument, incorporating qualitative data from political discourse and Turkey's military relationship with the US and NATO as well as quantitative data from military expenditures and opinion polls.