Rethinking the Implications of NATO’s Afghanistan Operation and Its Partnership for Peace in Central Asia: Is It the End of NATO’s Presence in Central Asia?

Year 2024, Issue: 108, 1 - 26, 30.01.2024

Arif Bağbaşlıoğlu

https://doi.org/10.12995/bilig.10801

Abstract

NATO’s partnership policy, including its Partnership for Peace (PfP) program, which aims to develop cooperation and dialogue with non-NATO countries, represents the first steps for an
essentially Euro-Atlantic alliance to establish an institutional relationship with Central Asian states. The war on terror discourse after the September 11 attacks, the US intervention in Afghanistan
in 2001, and NATO’s takeover of the ISAF mission in 2003 made it easier for NATO to establish institutional relations with Central Asian states. This study first discusses the effects of the end of the
Afghanistan operation on NATO’s approach towards Central Asia in light of current developments, such as the Russia-Ukraine war and NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept. It then explains why the
PfP program did not produce the desired results in developing relations with Central Asian states.

Keywords

Partnership for Peace, NATO, Central Asian States, Afghanistan, ISAF

NATO’nun Afganistan Operasyonu ve Barış İçin Ortaklık’ın Orta Asya Üzerindeki Etkilerini Yeniden Düşünmek: NATO’nun Orta Asya’daki Varlığının Sonu mu?

Abstract

NATO’nun ortaklık politikası ve bu politikanın bir aracı olan Barış İçin Ortaklık programı, İttifak’ın Orta Asya ülkeleriyle kurumsal bir ilişki oluşturmasının ilk adımını oluşturmuştur. 11 Eylül saldırıları sonrasında oluşan teröre karşı savaş söylemi ve 2003’te NATO’nun ISAF misyonun komutasını devralması NATO’nun Orta Asya ülkeleri ile kurumsal ilişkiler kurmasını daha da kolaylaştırmıştır. Orta Asya ülkelerinin Afganistan’a olan coğrafi yakınlığı, bu ülkelerin NATO üyelerinden askerî ve siyasi konulardaki beklentileri bu ilişkiyi taraflar açısından anlamlı kılmıştı. Ancak, Afganistan operasyonun sona ermesi, Rusya-NATO arasındaki ilişkilerin olumsuz doğası, günümüzde NATO’nun Orta Asya ülkeleri ile kurumsal anlamda ilişkiler geliştirmesini sınırlamaktadırlar. Bu çalışmanın iki temel amacı vardır. Birincisi, Afganistan operasyonunun sona ermesinin NATO’nun Orta Asya’ya yönelik yaklaşımına etkilerini tartışmaktır. Çalışmanın ikinci temel amacı ise BİO programının Orta Asya ülkeleri ile ilişkilerin geliştirilmesinde neden arzu edilen sonuçları doğurmadığını açıklamaktır. Çalışmanın temel iddiası ise NATO-Rusya ilişkilerinin niteliğinin, NATO-Orta Asya ülkeleri arasındaki ilişkilerin
etkinliğini ve gelişimini doğrudan etkilediğidir.

Keywords

Barış için Ortaklık, NATO, Orta Asya Devletleri, Afganistan, UGYG

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