Turkish Foreign Policy Towards Central Asia: An Unfolding of Regionalism and Soft Power

The end of the Cold War brought about new challenges and opportunities for Turkey in redesigning its foreign policy. The independence of the Central Asian countries, with which Turkey shares common cultural, historical, and linguistic features, prompted Turkey to rapidly adapt to the new environment...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAll Azimuth Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 195 - 218
Main Authors Kahveci, Hayriye, Bonnenfant, Isik Kuscu
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ankara Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research 01.07.2023
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research, Ihsan Dogramaci Peace Foundation
Subjects
Analysis
Aydin, Mustafa
Cold War
Culture
Demirel, Süleyman
Foreign policy
Geography
Geopolitics
International relations
Linguistics
Politics
Post Cold War period
Regionalism
Regions
Soft power
Middle East
Uzbekistan
United Kingdom
Kazakhstan
Turkmenistan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Russia
Central Asia
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics > USSR
Turkey
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Summary:The end of the Cold War brought about new challenges and opportunities for Turkey in redesigning its foreign policy. The independence of the Central Asian countries, with which Turkey shares common cultural, historical, and linguistic features, prompted Turkey to rapidly adapt to the new environment in the post-Cold War world order. After three decades, Turkey's engagement with the Central Asian republics has gradually increased and reached a level at which Turkey is capable of effectively combining its soft and hard power capabilities within regional parameters. This article critically analyzes 30 years of Turkish foreign policy in Central Asia with a focus on its regionalism and soft power elements. We argue that Central Asia has provided a unique opportunity for Turkey to reshape its foreign policy on regional terms by utilizing its soft power resources for the first time, the experience later serving as a model for other regions.
ISSN:2146-7757
DOI:10.20991/allazimuth.1310530