Implications of Realist Defensive Foreign Policy: Towards a Turkish Intervention in Libya During the First and Second Libyan Crises

Abstract

Turkish foreign policy significantly shifted in the second decade of the AKP government, as signified by adopting the official ‘zero problems with neighbours’ policy in 2009. The shift was necessitated by the country's quest to pursue an independent and autonomous foreign policy from the years of deep focus on Western partners. However, the dynamic regional challenges and pressing threats shaped Turkish intervention as a mediator or a military partner in the region. The intervention in Libya was important to the African continent and concretized the shifting Turkish defensive foreign policy orientation. Focusing on the main Libyan crises in this period, the first Libyan Crisis in 2011-2014 and the second Libyan Crisis in 2014 – 2020, the study critically analyses the shifting Turkish foreign policy towards Libya. In addition to securing Turkish interests in the Mediterranean, the intervention in Libya prevented the further escalation of the conflict, stabilized the UN-recognized government, and contributed significantly to the entry of the Turkish defence industrial complex into the African continent.

Keywords

• Türkiye
• Libya
• Foreign Policy
• Defensive Realism
• Libyan Crisis

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