President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s deal with on the 78th United Nations Basic Meeting supplied a profound perception into the worldwide and regional priorities that information Turkish international coverage. In an period marked by escalating international and regional energy rivalries, rising international uncertainties and a altering regional geopolitical panorama prevalent with safety challenges, Türkiye faces the crucial of redefining its international coverage.
Since his election victory in Might 2023, President Erdoğan has launched into a international coverage course that gives clear indications of the trajectory of this new period. On the core of Erdoğan’s international coverage imaginative and prescient lies the consolidation of Türkiye’s strategic autonomy, a pursuit aligned with the grand technique goal generally known as the “Axis of Türkiye.” This formidable aim seeks to raise Türkiye into a world participant inside an evolving worldwide system. In essence, it aspires to remodel Türkiye right into a potent financial, navy and diplomatic actor, establishing it as a formidable contender within the international energy enviornment.
President Erdoğan has to realize two pivotal international coverage goals concurrently. On the one hand, he should navigate nuanced diplomacy to guard Türkiye’s core pursuits amid a aggressive and aggressive geopolitical milieu in its regional context. However, he should vigilantly assess international and regional shifts, devising revolutionary methods to place Türkiye successfully inside this altering strategic panorama. As Türkiye enters its second century, undertaking these twin goals symbolizes a big new strategic intention. It’s also a ramification of the up to date strategic discourse to remodel the Turkish state identification within the new century of Türkiye.
This strategic imaginative and prescient calls for President Erdoğan’s dedication to effecting a structural transformation inside Türkiye and establishing a regional and international position according to this transformation over the subsequent 5 years of his presidency. Whereas this structural shift necessitates a transparent imaginative and prescient of the way forward for Türkiye, creating a coherent international coverage to form its regional and international position is equally crucial.
The brand new structure and new financial system
Within the context of historical past, Türkiye has often responded to pivotal international adjustments with complete inside transformations. Presently, the initiative for a brand new structure emerges as a pivotal avenue for enabling Türkiye’s structural evolution. The present structure, drafted by navy officers following the 1980 navy coup, is outdated and exacerbates up to date points. Given the sturdy social and political demand for a brand new structure and Türkiye’s transition from a parliamentary to a presidential system, a brand new structure is perceived as a strategic necessity. President Erdoğan views the brand new structure as not solely a method to deepen democracy but in addition as a visionary doc aligning with international shifts: As President Erdoğan talked about in his speech final week, “what we’d like is a constitutional textual content whose wording, spirit and quantity are according to our nation’s view of the world and life, and our nation’s accumulation and objectives.”
Parallel to constitutional reforms, Türkiye’s re-adoption of orthodox financial insurance policies is intertwined with its international coverage. The worldwide financial stagnation within the post-pandemic world, vulnerabilities stemming from the Ukraine battle, intensified international financial and technological competitors, and Türkiye’s ongoing financial challenges mandate the formulation of a brand new financial technique. Türkiye should mitigate inflationary pressures and assemble a aggressive financial mannequin that integrates with the worldwide financial system and bolsters commerce quantity. This goal necessitates the simultaneous administration of geopolitical and geo-economic dynamics, as exemplified by the Medium-Time period Financial Program just lately introduced by the federal government.
Geopolitical context
A brand new structure and a sturdy financial system will set up a secure political basis, enabling Turkish international coverage to have interaction with its geopolitical setting extra successfully. President Erdoğan’s current speech on the U.N. Basic Meeting underscored the profound transformation unfolding throughout the international system.
This transformation is characterised by a resurgence of nice energy competitors, which, though prominently between the U.S. and China, reverberates all through the worldwide enviornment. It compels all actors to reevaluate their positions and adapt to shifting alliances, exemplified by developments akin to AUKUS (Australia, the UK and the US), the Quadrilateral Safety Dialogue (QUAD), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), and the India-Center East-Europe Hall (IMEC). On this risky international panorama, Türkiye should diversify its international coverage past reliance on its geopolitical positioning and incorporate regional range.
Foremost amongst Türkiye’s geopolitical challenges is its location inside an aggressive and aggressive setting. The continued Ukraine battle instantly impacts Turkish-Russian relations and reshapes Türkiye’s ties with Europe, the West and NATO. Europe’s efforts to consolidate its unity inside NATO in response to the Russian risk prompted a reevaluation of Türkiye’s relationship with Europe.
Concurrently, the delicate conditions in neighboring international locations like Syria and Iraq compel Türkiye to prioritize safety insurance policies. Because the Center East undergoes transformation amid nice energy competitors, Türkiye is revising its relations with the complete regional actors. Notably, Türkiye’s acceleration of the Improvement Street undertaking in response to the IMEC initiative introduced on the G-20 summit exemplifies the simultaneous administration of geopolitical and geoeconomics dynamics.
Overseas coverage is inherently a realm of mutual interplay, not unilateral motion. It calls for a relational technique and includes a number of stakeholders. President Erdoğan’s U.N. summit deal with underscores that Turkish international coverage is crafted with a holistic perspective, poised for a world orientation that accounts for the intricate interaction of things inside our ever-evolving world.