Two Stages of Turkey’s Quest for a Regional Power Status in the Middle East: An Integrated Role- Status-seeking Approach

Abstract

Since 2002, Turkey has actively been seeking a regional power status in the Middle East through the articulation of regional roles based on historical legacy and liberal experience. Theoretically, the paper seeks to contribute to regional power literature by integrating role theory with status-seeking theory and examining the interactions between them. This integrated approach suggests that the role rientations of aspiring regional power and regional counter-roles determine the level of status recognition of that regional power in a given regional power hierarchy. Using this approach, the paper examines the fluctuations in Turkey’s pursuit of regional power status in the Middle East over two uneven stages before and after the Arab Spring. It shows that Turkey was able to play regional cooperative roles and improve its regional power status during the first stage (2002-2011) while has stumbled over the period since the Arab Spring.

Keywords

• Turkey
• Role
• Status-seeking
• Middle East
• Arab Spring

Türkiye’nin Orta Doğu’da Bölgesel Güç Statüsü Arayışındaki İki Aşama: Bütünleşik Rol-Statü Arayışı Yaklaşımı

Abstract

2002 yılından bu yana Türkiye, tarihsel miras ve liberal tecrübe iddiası temelinde bölgesellik rolünü vurgulayarak Orta Doğu’da bölgesel güç statüsü elde etmeye çalışmaktadır. Bu çalışma, teorik çerçevede rol teorisi ile statü arayışı (status-seeking) teorisini bir araya getirerek ve bunlar arasındaki ilişkiyi ele alarak bölgesel güç literatürüne katkı yapmayı hedeflemektedir. Bu bütünleşik yaklaşım, bölgesel güç olmayan çalışanlar aktörlerin rol eğilimleri ve bölgesel karşı-rollerin, bölgesel bir gücün belli bir bölgedeki hiyerarşi içerisindeki statüsünü tanımladığını ileri sürmektedir. Çalışma, bu yaklaşımından yararlanarak Arap Baharı öncesi ve sonrası dönemde, Türkiye’nin Orta Doğu’daki bölgesel güç olma arayışındaki dalgalanmaları incelemektedir. Türkiye, 2002-2011 yılları arasındaki ilk aşamada bölgesel işbirliği rolünü oynayabilmiştir ve bölgesel güç statüsünü geliştirmiştir ancak Arap Baharı sonrasında bu rolü oynama konusunda zorluklar yaşamıştır.

Keywords

• Türkiye
• Rol
• Statü Arayışı
• Arap Baharı
• Orta Doğu

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