Turkish foreign policy turns south

Caught out by the side effects of the Syrian civil war and deteriorating relations with the EU and the US, Turkey now appears to be in search of South-South cooperation

The Syrian civil war has become one of the greatest tragedies in human history in terms of its humanitarian consequences. The war has had huge ramifications for the Middle East, contributing greatly to the rise of ISIS and is a particular nightmare for neighbouring Turkey and its foreign policy.

Since the early 2000s, successive Turkish governments have invested greatly in a Middle East policy grounded on a common history, geography, shared destiny and civilisation.
This transformation was supported in practice through Turkey’s mediation efforts between Israel and Syria, Israel and Palestine and the P5+1 countries and Iran. Turkey has also promoted conflict resolution, development cooperation, visa and tariff-free treaties, as well as opening of new embassies and cultural centres throughout the region.
The Syrian effect on Turkish politics has been twofold: first, the rapid polarisation of the domestic scene between pro-government and opposition circles; second, the rise of nationalism as a response to the rising terror threat and increasing divergence from allies, particularly the US, on the possible resolution of the conflict.
The gradual normalisation of ties with Russia since June 2016 and the changing geopolitical equations in the aftermath of the battle for Aleppo appear to have shifted Turkey’s Syrian calculus, which is now more rooted in pragmatism than before.
Taking a further step in Turkey-EU relations is more dependant on the inclusivity and political decisiveness of the EU than the success of Turkey’s reform process. However, one thing is clear: Turkey-EU relations are not sustainable in their current form, even though both sides have ongoing interests in keeping Turkey within the EU’s orbit.
Caught out by the side effects of the Syrian civil war and deteriorating relations with the EU and the US, Turkey now appears to be in search of new alternatives to overcome its current limitations. In this context, the Global South has become a focal point for foreign policy.
In recent years, Turkey has eagerly sought to develop South-South cooperation, particularly in the domains of humanitarian diplomacy, development cooperation and trade.
In this regard, least developed countries such as Yemen, Burundi, Vanuatu and Haiti, have become more of an issue for Turkey’s global governance agenda. Indeed Turkey hosted several conferences for partnership with the least developed countries in Istanbul and used its G20 presidency as an opportunity to reach out the Global South.
Turkey is an active member of both the established framework of the UN system and informal institutions such as the G20 and MIKTA (an informal partnership between Mexico, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia) under which the Global South countries are also represented.
Turkey’s willingness to participate in solving regional crises – as seen clearly in the recent Astana talks – can be an important asset in other spheres, outside the Western world. Turkey has the capacity to empathise with countries in the Global South, since it experiences the very same development and democracy-related problems that many other nations face. The Turkish model, widely promoted by Western circles in the 2000s, particularly after the 2011 Arab revolts, has lost its sheen in the context of the Syrian civil war.
But this does not mean that Turkish foreign policy is gridlocked. Rather, new opportunities are opening up elsewhere.
 
The writer is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the Marmara University

Turkish foreign policy turns south

Caught out by the side effects of the Syrian civil war and deteriorating relations with the EU and the US, Turkey now appears to be in search of South-South cooperation

The Syrian civil war has become one of the greatest tragedies in human history in terms of its humanitarian consequences. The war has had huge ramifications for the Middle East, contributing greatly to the rise of ISIS and is a particular nightmare for neighbouring Turkey and its foreign policy. Since the early 2000s, successive Turkish governments have invested greatly in a Middle East policy grounded on a common history, geography, shared destiny and civilisation. This transformation was supported in practice through Turkeys mediation efforts between Israel and Syria, Israel and Palestine and the P5+1 countries and Iran. Turkey has also promoted conflict resolution, development cooperation, visa and tariff-free treaties, as well as opening of new embassies and cultural centres throughout the region. The Syrian effect on Turkish politics has been twofold: first, the rapid polarisation of the domestic scene between pro-government and opposition circles; second, the rise of nationalism as a response to the rising terror threat and increasing divergence from allies, particularly the US, on the possible resolution of the conflict. The gradual normalisation of ties with Russia since June 2016 and the changing geopolitical equations in the aftermath of the battle for Aleppo appear to have shifted Turkeys Syrian calculus, which is now more rooted in pragmatism than before. Taking a further step in Turkey-EU relations is more dependant on the inclusivity and political decisiveness of the EU than the success of Turkeys reform process. However, one thing is clear: Turkey-EU relations are not sustainable in their current form, even though both sides have ongoing interests in keeping Turkey within the EUs orbit. Caught out by the side effects of the Syrian civil war and deteriorating relations with the EU and the US, Turkey now appears to be in search of new alternatives to overcome its current limitations. In this context, the Global South has become a focal point for foreign policy. In recent years, Turkey has eagerly sought to develop South-South cooperation, particularly in the domains of humanitarian diplomacy, development cooperation and trade. In this regard, least developed countries such as Yemen, Burundi, Vanuatu and Haiti, have become more of an issue for Turkeys global governance agenda. Indeed Turkey hosted several conferences for partnership with the least developed countries in Istanbul and used its G20 presidency as an opportunity to reach out the Global South. Turkey is an active member of both the established framework of the UN system and informal institutions such as the G20 and MIKTA (an informal partnership between Mexico, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia) under which the Global South countries are also represented. Turkeys willingness to participate in solving regional crises as seen clearly in the recent Astana talks can be an important asset in other spheres, outside the Western world. Turkey has the capacity to empathise with countries in the Global South, since it experiences the very same development and democracy-related problems that many other nations face. The Turkish model, widely promoted by Western circles in the 2000s, particularly after the 2011 Arab revolts, has lost its sheen in the context of the Syrian civil war. But this does not mean that Turkish foreign policy is gridlocked. Rather, new opportunities are opening up elsewhere. The writer is an Associate Professor of International Relations at theMarmara University