“Stabilizing” Turkey in an Unstable World

Abstract

Turkey is systematically working to increase its global influence, which is of particular interest to researchers. However, the lack of publicly available basic documents in the field of Turkish foreign policy makes it difficult to study it. Books of Turkey’s politicians, who demonstrate their own view on the development of the system of international relations, and the place and role of Turkey in it, help to fill this gap. This article is a review of the book “Türkiye as a stabilizing power in an age of turmoil” by Fahrettin Altun, Director of the Turkey Directorate of Communications(Presidential Spokesperson). The politician justifies Turkey’s actions in the international arena, describing it as a stabilizing power. He traces the formation of Turkey as a center of power, which has moved from forced Westernization leading to an increase in national uncertainty and the devaluation of national interests to modernization in the Turkish manner. The book highlights the current state of the international system, which is characterized as extremely unstable due to the inefficiency of international institutions (in particular, the United Nations) and the policies of the great powers. Against this background, Turkey’s maneuvers in foreign policy are assessed as aimed exclusively at the universal good. Ankara’s adventurous actions and its participation in conflicts are justified by the fact that they contribute to regional stabilization. In general, the book consists of populist reflections, but at the same time, it demonstrates the Turkey-centric view of world politics and the attitude of political elites. Thus, Ankara’s rejection of the ideas of Ahmet Davutoğlu and the pro-Western orientation of foreign policy becomes obvious.

Keywords

• turkey
• fahrettin altun
• turkey-centrism
• foreign policy
• stability
• recep tayyip erdoğan