Eurasianism or Neo-Ottomanism: The Neighborhood in Turkish Foreign Policy

Abstract

Chapter 4 deals with how the “confronting of the past” that was discussed in the previous chapter becomes significant for an understanding of the present and the future. The notion that Turkey’s promise as a regional and global player is somehow related to historical legacies is not new. This trend is particularly evident with regard to the Armenian, Kurdish, and Alevi questions but also in the surge of popular interest in the final years of the empire and the early years of the republic. This is also reflected in what is now being identified as the “neo-Ottomanist” policy being followed by the ruling AKP in its foreign policy. Internationally, the delay in EU membership and the Armenian chapter of the Ottoman past has proved to be decisive. Domestically this revisiting is said to be associated with the challenge that diverse groups are mounting towards the dominant narrative of national identity which emphasized the unitary, secular character of the Turkish nation state and displayed a staunch commitment to a Western orientation for Turkish identity and foreign policy.