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      The Arab Upheavals and the Turkish Perception vis-à-vis the West

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            Abstract

            The article argues that Turkey's perception of the West has been heavily influenced by its idealized identity. After evaluating the circumstances under which this idealized identity began to weaken, it shows how the images of the US and Europe have started to get compartmentalized and Israel separated from the image of the West. The article explains the relationship between the continuing process redefining Turkey's “personal identity” and its growing interest in the Middle East. The transformation process that Turkey is passing through is critically important in understanding the way in which Turkey has been affected by the upheavals and is reacting to the new developments in the region. In this vein the article highlights the interaction between power considerations and aspirations to re-define identity at home and abroad.

            Content

            Author and article information

            Journal
            10.13169
            arabstudquar
            Arab Studies Quarterly
            Pluto Journals
            02713519
            20436920
            Summer 2013
            : 35
            : 3
            : 305-323
            Article
            arabstudquar.35.3.0305
            10.13169/arabstudquar.35.3.0305
            9a781f61-462e-4b0e-bc37-77540d6f1c44
            © The Center for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies 2013

            All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

            History
            Categories
            Articles

            Social & Behavioral Sciences
            state identity,Turkish foreign policy,AKP's foreign policy,Arab upheavals,foreign policy roles,identity change

            Notes

            1. James D. Fearon, “What is Identity (As We Now Use the Word)?”, November 3, 1999, http://www.stanford.edu/∼jfearon/papers/iden1v2.pdf.

            2. Vamik D. Volkan, “Large Group Identity: Border Psychology and Related Societal Processes,” http://www.vamikvolkan.com/Large-group-Identity,-International-Relation….

            3. Ilya Prizel, National Identity and Foreign Policy: Nationalism and Leadership in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).

            4. Alexander Wendt, “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics,” International Organization 46:2 (Spring 1992), 391–425, 420.

            5. Hasan Bülent Kahraman, “Bir Zihniyet, Kurum ve Kimlik Kurucusu Olarak Batılılaşma,” Modern Türkiye'de Siyasi Düşünce , Cilt. III, 125–126.

            6. Alper Kaliber, “Türk Modernleşmesini Sorunsallaştıran Üç Ana Paradigma Üzerine,” Modern Türkiye'de Siyasal Düşünce , Cilt. III, 107.

            7. Mustafa Aydın, “Determinants of Turkish Foreign Policy: Historical Framework and Traditional Inputs,” Middle Eastern Studies 35:4 (1999), 160.

            8. Şerif Mardin, Türk Modernleşmesi (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2006), 11.

            9. Ahmet İnsel, Türkiye Toplumunun Bunalımı (İstanbul: Birikim Yayınları, 2002), 40.

            10. İhsan D. Dağı, “Transformation of Islamic Political Identity in Turkey: Rethinking the West and Westernization,” Turkish Studies 6:1 (2005), 22.

            11. Ilter Turan Dilek Barlas, “Batı İttifakına Üye Olmanın Türk Dış Politikası Üzerindeki Etkileri,” in Faruk Sönmezoğlu, ed., Turk Dis Politikasinin Analizi (İstanbul: Der Yayınları, 1994).

            12. S. Gülden Ayman, “The Role of Belief Systems in the Turkish Foreign Policy Making Towards the Middle East,” Middle East Research Competition (MERC), Ford Foundation, Lebanon, 1999, unpublished research.

            13. Ronnie Lipschutz, “Negotiating the Boundaries of Difference and Security at the Millennium's End,” in R. Lipschutz, ed., On Security (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), 217.

            14. Nedret Ersanel, “İran-Hamas Çizgisinde Bir Terör Analizi,” Avrasya Dosyası 3:2 (1999); Mehmet Atay, “Ortadoğu'da Terör Savaşları ve Barış Arayışları,” Avrasya Dosyası 2, 117–143; Sami Karamısır, Uluslararası Terör Dedikleri (Istanbul: Tev Vakfı Yayınları, 1992).

            15. As an example see Muzaffer Erendil, Çağdaş Ortadoğu Olayları (Ankara: Genelkurmay Askerî Tarih ve Stratejik Etüt Başkanlığı Basımevi, 1994), 63.

            16. Atay, Arayışları,” 118.

            17. As an example see Ümit Özdağ, “İsrail'in Kuzey Irak Politikası,” Avrasya Dosyası 1 (1999), 224–233, 232.

            18. On “projection” see, Vamik D. Volkan, Demetrios A. Julius, and Joseph V. Montville, The Psychodynamics of International Relationships: Concepts and Theories (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 1990).

            19. Davut Ekşi, “İmaj Sorunu' ve Türk-Arap İlişkileri Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme,” Avrasya Dosyası, Arap Dünyası Özel 6:1 (2000), 124–130, 129.

            20. S. Gülden Ayman, “Turkish Perceptions Regarding the Middle East and the War in Iraq,” in Antonio Marquina and Mustafa Aydin, eds., Turkish Foreign and Security Policy: Its Environs in Eurasia and the Middle East (UNISCI, TEPAV, Madrid, Marcial Pons, 2006), 185–205; S. Gülden Ayman, “Türk Dış Politika Seçkinlerinin Ortadoğu Algılamaları ve Irak Savaşı,” Akademik Orta Doğu , Cilt. 1, Sayı. 1 (2006), 1–20.

            21. Bernard Weiner, “An Attributional Theory of Achievement Motivation and Emotion,” Psychological Review 92:4 (October 1985), 548–573.

            22. Muzaffer Özdağ, “Ortadoğu'da Yaşanan Durum ve Yakın Gelecek,” Avrasya Dosyası 1 (1999), 9–21, 12–13.

            23. Tolga Yarman, “Türkiye ve Ortadoğu, Düne ve Bugüne Kısa bir Bakış,” in Sabahattin Şen, ed., Su Sorunu, Türkiye ve Ortadoğu (İstanbul: Bağlam, 1993), 41–63; Yavuz Yıldız, “Ortadoğu'da Silahlanma ve Militarizm,” in Sabahattin Şen, ed., Su Sorunu, Türkiye ve Ortadoğu (İstanbul: Bağlam, 1993), 145–227.

            24. Interestingly Ambassador Feridun Hadi Sinirlioğlu, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who is one of the leading diplomats in Turkey's Middle East initiatives was defending that the only role that Turkey could play regarding to the Middle East is an inactive “model” role. Interview with Sinirlioğlu, Ankara, 1997.

            25. Robert Pape, “Soft Balancing against the United States,” International Security 30:1 (Summer 2005), 7–45; S. Gülden Ayman, “Bir Güvenlik Sorunsalı Olarak Türk-Amerikan İlişkilerinde Irak Çıkmazı,” in S. Gülden Ayman, ed., Irak Çıkmazı: Türkiye Açısından Temel Parametreler (İstanbul: Bigart, 2008), 51–84.

            26. Kemal Kirişci, “The Transformation of Turkish Foreign Policy: The Rise of the Trading State,” New Perspectives on Turkey 40 (2009), 29–56.

            27. See, “The Alliance of Civilizations Initiative,” Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs , http://www.mfa.gov.tr/the-alliance-of-civilizations-initiative.en.mfa.

            28. See Vamik D. Volkan and Norman Itzkowitz, The Immortal Ataturk, A Psychobiography (Chicago, London: Chicago University Press, 1984), Chapter 22, 252–276.

            29. See, “AKP Government Scales Down National Day Festivities,” Hürriyet Daily News , May 7, 2012, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/akp-government-scales-down-national-….

            30. Yonca Poyraz Doğan, “Arab Academics: Turks' Return to Middle East Anticipated Development,” Today's Zaman , June 20, 2010, http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=213639.

            31. “Turkish Premier Delivers a Speech at Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum,” Turkishpress.com, October 6, 2010, http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=352749.

            32. Fatih Cekirge, “Erbakan Iki Ay Sonra Konuştu,” Sabah , September 20, 1996.

            33. “Özal'in Dış Politikasını Izliyoruz,” Hurriyet , January 26, 1997.

            34. “Turkey is the most Western Country in the Orient and the Most Oriental Country in the West,” Speech delivered by Egemen Bagış at the Izmir Ataturk Industrial Zone, March 23, 2009, http://www.egemenbagis.com/index.cfm?action=index&page=newsdetails&news=375.

            35. “Turkey's PM in Syria Defends Independent Foreign Policy,” World Bulletin , December 23, 2009, http://www.worldbulletin.net/index.php?aType=haberArchive&ArticleID=51712.

            36. Elizabeth Gehrman, “The Way Forward. Turkey's Minister of Foreign Affairs Elaborates on Future,” Harvard Gazette , September 29, 2010, http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/09/the-way-forward/.

            37. Ahmet Davutoğlu, “Turkish Vision of Regional and Global Order: Theoretical Background and Practical Implications,” Political Reflection 1:2, 36–51, 40–46.

            38. Ibid.

            39. The Speech at the Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference , Tehran, May 28, 2003, http://www.tccb.gov.tr/sayfa/konusma_aciklama_mesajlar/kitap/79.pdf.

            40. “PM Rules Out NATO Intervention in Libya,” Today's Zaman , February 28, 2011, http://www.todayszaman.com/news-236953-pm-rules-out-nato-intervention-in-libya.html.

            41. Ibid.

            42. Abdurrahman Itik, “Libyans Stage anti-Turkey Protest in Benghazi,” Today's Zaman , April 6, 2011, http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=240293.

            43. Ian Traynor, “Turkey and France Clash over Libya Air Campaign,” The Guardian , March 24, 2011.

            44. Fulya Özerkan, “Turkey to Attend London Summit on Libya after Missing Paris,” Hurriyet Daily News , March 24, 2011.

            45. Veysel Ayhan, “Turkey-France Rivalry in Libya,” ORSAM, Foreign Policy Analysis , http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/showArticle.aspx?ID=802.

            46. Sedat Ergin, “Is it Only the EU Report that was Thrown into the Waste Basket?,” Al-Monitor , October 19, 2012, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/10/turkey-bad-international-grades-dont-bother-akp-leaders.html#ixzz2DXWWIy00.

            47. Mustafa Aydın, Ten Years After: Turkey's Gulf Policy (1990–91) Revisited , Center for Eurasian Strategic Thought—Ankara Paper No. 3 (London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2002), 3. Bottom of Form.

            48. “1 Mart Tezkeresinin Perde Arkası,” Habername , March 1, 2012, http://www.habername.com/haber-1-mart-tezkere–71633.htm.

            49. See, Erdoğan's remarks at a joint press conference in late 2009 in Damascus: Sabah , December 23, 2009.

            50. Orsam Water Bulletin , January 29, 2012, http://www.orsam.org.tr/…/2012130_ORSAMwaterblletin23_29january20….

            51. “Turkey Delivers a Final Warning to Syria,” Today's Zaman , August 9, 2011.

            52. “Turkey Says Syria Shot Down its Air Force Jet,” USA Today , June 22, 2012, http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-06-22/turkey-syria/…/1.

            53. “Bu da Dolmabahçe Görüşmesi,” Aydınlık , April 15, 2011, http://www.aydinlikgazete.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5556:dolmabahce-goeruemes&catid=35:joomla&Itemid=95.

            54. “Syria Was Very Much Like a Domestic Incident for Turkey,” Today's Zaman , August 9, 2011.

            55. “MHP'li Günal: AKP Hükümeti ABD'nin Taşeronu Haline Geldi!” 2023 Gazete, November 15, 2011, http://www.gazete2023.com/haber/10434/mhpli-gunal-akp-hukumeti-abdnin-taseronu-haline-geldi.html; Yıldıray Çiçek, “ABD Taşeronu Olmak AKP'nin Varlık Sebebidir,” Ortadoğu Gazetesi , October 10, 2011, http://www.ortadogugazetesi.net/makale.php?id=9829.

            56. “‘Arab Fall’ Warning at Socialist International,” Hürriyet Daily News , March 24, 2012.

            57. “Syria Not Turkish Domestic Issue, Turkish Opposition Says,” Today's Zaman , August 9, 2011, http://www.todayszaman.com/news-253273-syria-not-turkish-domestic-iss….

            58. Public Opinion Surveys of Turkish Foreign Policy, EDAM , October 4, 2012, http://edam.org.tr/eng/document/Edam2012Survey3.pdf.

            59. Jonathan Spyer, “Turks Fear ‘Kurdish Spring’,” Gloria Center , August 20, 2012, www.gloria-center.org.

            60. Ely Karmon, “Turkey's Problem with Israel is Bigger than the Mavi Marmara,” International Institute for Counter Terrorism , February 6, 2013, http://www.ict.org.il/NewsCommentaries/Commentaries/tabid/69/Articlsid/1155/currentpage/1/Default.aspx.

            61. “Israel to Join NATO Activities Amidst Turkey Tension,” The Jerusalem Post , December 23, 2012, http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=297004.

            62. Kadri Gürsel, “Does Turkey Benefit from Cold War with Israel?” Al Monitor , http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/01/cold-war-turkey-israel.html#ixzz2HhmcnRde.

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