Turkey’s balkan policy and its skeptics

Abstract

During the last decades, in parallel to its economic growth and foreign policy activism, Turkey has become an important regional actor in the Balkans. Turkey’s activism has led to different reactions both from inside and outside the region. Skeptical views regarding Turkey’s intentions are occasionally expressed in the international media. The skeptics’ mostly voiced claim is that Turkey is undermining the Balkans’ stability and Euro-Atlantic integration. Yet Turkey’s approach to the region does not provide a justifiable basis for these claims.