Contextualising Türkiye’s Fluctuating Policies in the Middle East in the 2002-2023 Period: A Constructivist Approach

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 11 Sayı: 2, 133 - 160, 08.12.2024

Ahmet Üçağaç

https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.1472597

Öz

This study attempts to explain Turkey's policy towards the Middle East in the last two decades by placing it in periodic contexts. Acknowledging that since 2002 there had been various changes in Türkiye’s Middle East policy, the study aims to contribute to the relevant literature with an approach that examines Ankara’s policy towards the region based on how it perceived the material world outside through the lenses that constitute its foreign policy identity. The study argues that although Türkiye’s foreign policy towards the Middle East undergone tactical changes in the last two decades, it remained consistent with the traditional foreign policy identity. Arguing that continuity and ideational persistence can be comprehensively explained through a social constructionist theoretical framework, the study aims to explain and analyze how Türkiye adopted its policies towards the Middle East using a constructionist lens. In this context, the study seeks to answer the question of “which factors shaped Türkiye’s Middle East policy in the 2002-2023 period and how?”. Therefore, tracing the key factors behind Ankara's changing Middle East policies informs the theoretical and empirical dimensions of this study. Finally, while the social constructionist approach guides this analysis as a theoretical framework, the process tracing method is used to understand the ideational and material aspects of Türkiye’s Middle East policies.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Türkiye, The Middle East, Political Identity, Tactical Change

Türkiye’nin 2002-2023 Arası Dönemde Ortadoğu’da Değişen Politikalarının Bağlamsallaştırılması: İnşacı Bir Yaklaşım

Öz

Bu çalışma, Türkiye'nin son yirmi yılda Ortadoğu’ya yönelik izlediği politikayı dönemsel bağlamlara oturtarak açıklamaya çalışmaktadır. 2002 yılından 2023 yılına kadarki dönemde Türkiye'nin Ortadoğu politikasında çeşitli değişiklikler olduğunu kabul eden bu çalışma, Ankara’nın bölgeye yönelik politikasını, dış politika kimliğini oluşturan mercekler aracılığıyla dışarıdaki maddi dünyayı nasıl algıladığı temelinde inceleyen bir yaklaşımla ilgili literatüre katkıda bulunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma, Türkiye’nin Ortadoğu’ya yönelik dış politikasının son yirmi yılda taktiksel değişikliklere uğramasına rağmen, geleneksel dış politika kimliğiyle tutarlı kaldığını savunmaktadır. Ayrıca, süreklilik ve düşünsel kalıcılığın sosyal inşacı bir kuramsal çerçeve ile kapsamlı bir şekilde açıklanabileceğini savunan bu çalışma, Türkiye’nin bölgeye yönelik politikalarını nasıl benimsediğini inşacı bir mercek kullanarak açıklamayı ve analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda çalışma, "2002-2023 döneminde Türkiye'nin Ortadoğu politikalarını hangi faktörler nasıl şekillendirdi?" sorusuna cevap aramaktadır. Ankara'nın değişen Ortadoğu politikalarının ardındaki temel faktörlerin izini sürmek, bu çalışmanın teorik ve ampirik boyutlarını ortaya koymaktadır. Bu çerçevede, sosyal inşacı yaklaşım teorik bir çerçeve olarak bu analize rehberlik ederken, süreç izleme yöntemi Türkiye'nin bölge politikalarının düşünsel ve materyal yönlerini anlamak için kullanılmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Türkiye, Ortadoğu, Dış Politika, Siyasi Kimlik, Taktiksel Değişim

Kaynakça

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