The Impact of Self-Orientalism on Türkiye’s Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East

Year 2025, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 665 - 682, 21.09.2025

İbrahim Karataş

https://doi.org/10.21600/ijoks.1749306

Abstract

This study aims to reveal how self-Orientalism affects relations between states in the Middle East by analyzing Türkiye-Middle East relations. It argues that Türkiye’s foreign policy towards the Middle East has mainly been based on self-Orientalist views of the founding elites of the country, the impact of which will likely continue into the future. There has been hostility between those who preferred a holistic self-Orientalism and those that supported a technological-only version. While the latter is not Occidentalist, it argues that relations with the Arab-Muslim world can be improved without being anti-West. The other side, complete self-Orientalists, see Middle Eastern culture as backward, thereby alienating themselves from the region. Moreover, efforts to be an EU member have complicated debates about self-Orientalism as Türkiye could be considered to be part of the Occident. Available literature is systematically reviewed.

Keywords

Middle East , Turkish Foreign Policy , Orientalism , Self-Orientalism , Arab World , Occidentalism

References

• Akçakoca, A. (2009). Turkish Foreign Policy: Between East and West? Brussels: European Policy Centre.
• Akgün, M. et al (2010). Ortadoğu’da Türkiye Algısı. İstanbul: TESEV.
• Aktaş, M. (2011). Can Turkey be a Role Model for the Muslim Countries? IPEDR, 17: 164-168.
• Albarracin, J. (2011). The Role of Turkey in the New Middle Eastern Economic Architecture. Panorama, 234-239.
• Al-Ghazzi, O. and Kraidy M.M. (2013). Neo-Ottoman Cool 2: Turkish Nation Branding and Arabic-Language Transnational Broadcasting. International Journal of Communication, 7: 2341-2360.
• Altunışık, M. B. (2011). Challenges to Turkey’s Soft Power in the Middle East. Istanbul: TESEV.
• Aydın, M. (2004). Turkish Foreign Policy Framework and Analysis. Ankara: SAM.
• Barkey, H. (2011). Turkish Foreign Policy and the Middle East. Paris: CERI.
• Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge.
• Bezci, B. and Çiftçi, Y. (2012). Self-Orientalization: Modernity Within Ourselves or Internalized Modernization. Journal of Academic Inquiries, 7(1): 139-166.
• Carley, P. (1995). Turkey’s Role in the Middle East. Washington: USIP.
• Cerami, C. (2013). Rethinking Turkey’s Soft Power in the Arab World: Islam, Secularism, and Democracy. Journal of Levantine Studies, 3(2): 129-150.
• Çeliker, İ. (2018). Atatürk’ün Ortadoğu Politikası. Tarih Okulu Dergisi, 34: 645-666.
• Dinç, C. and Yetim, M. (2012). Transformation of Turkish Foreign Policy Toward the Middle East: From Non-Involvement to a Leading Role. Alternatives Turkish Journal of International Relations, 11(1): 67-84.
• Dirlik, A. (1996). Chinese History and the Question of Orientalism. History and Theory, 35(4): 96-118. DOI:10.2307/2505446.
• Duman, S. (2005). Ortadoğu Krizleri ve Türkiye. Ankara Üniversitesi Tiirk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü Atatürk Yolu Dergisi, 35-36: 313-332.
• Duran, H. and Karaca A. (2013). 1950-1980 Döneminde Türkiye-Ortadoğu İlişkileri. C.Ü. İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 14(1):121-136.
• Duran, H. and Özdemir Ç. (2012). Arab Spring with Its Reflections in Turkish Foreign Policy. Journal of Academic Inquiries, 7(2): 181-198.
• Fanon, F. (1963). The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press.
• Grigoriadis, I.N. (2010). Matching Ambitions with Realities: Turkish Foreign Policy in the Middle East. Ankara: ELIAMEP.
• Göktepe, C. and Seydi S. (2015). Soğuk Savaş Başlangıcında Türk Dış Politikası. Bilig, 72: 197-222.
• Khalifa, M. (2017). Turkish Foreign Policy in the Middle East After Arab Spring. International Relations and Diplomacy, 5(2): 102-111.
• Kobayashi, K., Jackson, S. J., and Sam, M. P. (2017). Globalization, creative alliance and self-Orientalism: Negotiating Japanese identity within Asics global advertising production. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 1-18. DOI:10.1177/1367877917733812.
• Macfie AL (ed.) (2000). Orientalism: A Reader. New York: New York University Press.
• Mardin, Ş. (1971). Ideology and Religion in the Turkish Revolution. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 2(2): 197-211.
• Mardin, Ş. (1973). Center-Periphery Relations: A Key to Turkish Politics? Daedalus, 102(1): 169-190.
• Oran, B. (1996). Türk Dış Politikası: Temel İlkeleri ve Soğuk Savaş Ertesindeki Durumu Üzerine Notlar. Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi Dergisi, 1-4(51): 353-370.
• Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
• Sayari, S. (1997). Turkey and the Middle East in the 1990s. Journal of Palestine Studies, 26(3): 44-55.
• Schafer F. (2009) The Re-Articulation Of Cultural Studies In Japan And Its Consequences For Japanese Studies. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 12(1): 23–41.
• Sinkaya, B. (2011). Geçmişten Günümüze Türkiye’nin Ortadoğu Politikası ve Batı Etkisi. Adam Akademi, 1: 79-100.
• Sleiman, M.H. (2002). The Turkish Middle East Role: Between The Arabs and Israel. Pennsylvania: U.S. Army War College.
• Taşpınar, Ö. (2008). Turkey’s Middle East Policies: Between Neo-Ottomanism and Kemalism. Washington: Carnegie Endowment.
• Şahin, M. (2010). Türkiye’nin Ortadoğu Politikası: Süreklilik ve Değişim. Akademik Ortadoğu, 4(2): 9-22.
• Turan, K. (2012). Changes in Turkish Foreign Policy: A Shift or a Passing Interest? Akademik Bakış, 6(11): 65-84.
• Türkmen, İ. (2014). Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin Ortadoğu Politikasi. İstanbul: Bilgesam.
• Ülgen, S. (2011). From Inspiration to Aspiration: Turkey in the New Middle East. Washington: Carnegie Endowment.
• Wigen, E. (2009). Turkish Neo-Ottomanism: A Turn to the Middle East? Small Wars & Insurgencies, 19(3): 397-422.