Abstract
At the outset of the Arab revolts in late 2010 and early 2011, Turkey seemed to be the most likely contender for regional leadership in the Middle East. The signs for this development were all too obvious at the time: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) were hailed as having, at last, successfully reconciled Muslim-conservative values, political liberalism, and economic developmentalism, as Erdoğan held mass rallies in post-uprising Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia in September 2011. The fact that Turkey could accomplish all that while, at the same time, being able to follow its own interests independently and not being bound by extra-regional superpowers—at least less so than other relevant regional players, such as Israel or Saudi Arabia—contributed even more to Turkey’s positive image in Arab societies. While some splits in the self-assigned “zero problems” framework of then foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu became visible after the uprisings, Turkey still maneuvered quite effectively between new Arab societal aspirations and its own material interests (cf. Bank 2011; Öniş 2012; Tugal 2012). However, in 2014, Turkey does not look as promising a regional power as it did three years ago. The AKP’s assertiveness in actively promoting a regime change in Syria could no longer be resolved with the aim to maintain good relations with Iran, the then Maliki government in Iraq, and with its crucial energy partner Russia.
This chapter is a revised and updated version of Bank and Karadag (2013).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Literature
Altay, Atli (2011). Businessmen as Diplomats: The Role of Business Associations in Turkey’s Foreign Economic Policy. Insight Turkey, 13(1), 119–128.
Altunışık, Meliha Benli (2008). The Possibilities and Limits of Turkey’s Soft Power in the Middle East. Insight Turkey, 10(2), 41–54.
Altunışık, Meliha Benli, and Lenore G. Martin (2011). Making Sense of Turkish Foreign Policy in the Middle East under AKP. Turkish Studies, 12(4), 569–587.
Arab Public Opinion Polls by Telhami and Zogby International (2011–2012). http://sadat.umd.edu/new%20surveys/surveys.htm, accessed July 2, 2013.
Aras, Bülent, and R. K. Polat (2008). From Conflict to Cooperation: Desecuritization of Turkey’s Relations with Syria and Iran. Security Dialogue, 39(5), 492–515.
Bakir, Caner (2009). Policy Entrepreneurship and Institutional Change: Multilevel Governance of Central Banking Reform. Governance, 22(4), 571–598.
Bank, André (2011). Turkey and the Arab Revolt: Rise or Decline in Regional Politics? GIGA Focus International, 4. http://www.giga-hamburg.de/dl/download.php?d=/content/publikationen/pdf/gf_international_1104.pdf, accessed June 13, 2013.
Bank, André, and Roy Karadag (2013). The “Ankara Moment”: The Politics of Turkey’s Regional Power in the Middle East, 2007–2011. Third World Quarterly, 34(2), 287–304.
Hale, William, and Ergun Özbudun (2010). Islamism, Democracy and Liberalism in Turkey. The Case of the AKP. London: Routledge.
Jung, Dietrich (2005). Turkey and the Arab World: Historical Narratives and New Political Realities. Mediterranean Politics, 10(1), 1–17.
Karadag, Roy (2010). Neoliberal Restructuring in Turkey: From State to Oligarchic Capitalism. MPIfG Discussion Paper, 10/7. Cologne: Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung.
Kiriçi, Kemal (2009). The Transformation of Turkish Foreign Policy: The Rise of the Trading State. New Perspectives of Turkey, 40, 29–57.
Kirişçi, Kemal (2011). Turkey’s “Demonstrative Effect” and the Transformation of the Middle East. Insight Turkey, 13(1), 33–55.
Kirişçi, Kemal (2013). Arab Uprisings and Completing Turkey’s Regional Integration. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 15(2), 189–205.
Kutlay, Mustafa (2011). Economy as the “Practical Hand” of “New Turkish Foreign Policy”: A Political Economy Explanation. Insight Turkey, 13(1), 67–88.
Larrabee, Stephen (2010). Turkey’s New Geopolitics. Survival, 52(2), 157–180.
Lovering, John, and Hade Türkmen (2011). Bulldozer Neo-liberalism in Istanbul. International Planning Studies, 16(1), 73–96.
Oğuzlu, Tarik, and Mustafa Kibaroğlu (2009). Is the Westernization Process Losing Pace in Turkey: Who’s to Blame? Turkish Studies, 10(4), 577–593.
Öner, Selcen (2013). Soft Power in Turkish Foreign Policy: New Instruments and Challenges. Euxeinos, 10, 7–15.
Öniş, Ziya (2011). Power, Interests and Coalitions: The Political Economy of Mass Privatization in Turkey. Third World Quarterly, 32(4), 707–724.
Öniş, Ziya (2012). Turkey and the Arab Spring: Between Ethics and Self-Interest. Insight Turkey, 14(3), 1–19.
Öniş, Ziya, and Fikret Şenses (2009). The New Phase of Neo-liberal Restructuring in Turkey: An Overview. In Ziya Öniş and Fikret Şenses (eds.), Turkey and the Global Economy: Neo-liberal Restructuring and Integration in the Post-Crisis Era. London: Routledge, 1–10.
Pope, Hugh (2010). Pax Ottomana? The Mixed Success of Turkey’s New Foreign Policy. Foreign Affairs, 89(6), 161–171.
Rousselin, Mathieu (2013). Turkish Soap Power: International Perspectives and Domestic Paradoxes. Euxeinos, 10, 16–22.
Söyler, Mehtap (2013). Informal Institutions, Forms of State and Democracy: The Turkish Deep State. Democratization, 20(2), 310–334.
Tugal, Cihan (2009). Passive Revolution: Absorbing the Islamic Challenge to Capitalism. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Tugal, Cihan (2012). Democratic Janissaries? Turkey’s Role in the Arab Spring. New Left Review, 76, 5–24.
Tür, Özlem (2011). Economic Relations with the Middle East under the AKP—Trade, Business Community and Reintegration with Neighboring Zones. Turkish Studies, 12(4), 589–602.
Valbjorn, Morten, and André Bank (2012). The New Arab Cold War: Rediscovering the Arab Dimension of Middle East Regional Politics. Review of International Studies, 38(1), 3–24.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2014 Henner Fürtig
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bank, A., Karadag, R. (2014). Before the Arab Revolts and After: Turkey’s Transformed Regional Power Status in the Middle East. In: Fürtig, H. (eds) Regional Powers in the Middle East. The Modern Muslim World. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137484758_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137484758_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-50355-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-48475-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Intern. Relations & Development CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)