Identity and Turkish Foreign Policy

 Most analysts agree that Turkey's foreign policy is essentially peaceful, using diplomacy and multilateralism in the resolution of its conflicts with other states. Here, Umut Uzer offers a necessary corrective to this standard analysis by revealing the Kemalist influence in Turkey's state ideology. This defined the identity of the state as Turkish, resulting in responsibilities towards Turks residing beyond its borders, and a more engaged foreign policy that ranged from declarations of support for ethnic kin outside Turkey to outright takeover of territory. Focusing on the annexation of Hatay from Syria in 1939, Turkey's involvement in Cyprus culminating in a military operation in 1974 and its policy toward the Karabagh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the 1990s, "Identity and Turkish Foreign Policy" is indispensable for all those interested in Middle East politics and international relations as well as Turkey more specifically.

Review: 'This is a sophisticated analysis of Kemalist Turkish foreign policy that breaks new ground by demonstrating how it has not always followed a peaceful and non-expansionist path despite its usual claims. To build his case the author analyzes Turkish foreign policy from the establishment of the Turkish Republic in the 1920s and specifically towards Cyprus since the 1950s and Nagorno-Karabakh and the Turkic world since the 1990s. Throughout the manuscript the author exhibits a mastery over the facts and their interpretation that lends credence to his thesis. This book will be a valuable addition to the existing literature.' - Michael M. Gunter, Professor of Political Science, Tennessee Technological University; 'This book is an original piece of scholarship and offers a novel framework for the comprehension of Turkish foreign policy. Uzer makes a number of original observations and analyses, revealing the nationalist element in Kemalism, its impact on a number of foreign policy decisions, as well as the preconditions for Turkish involvement in its neighboring areas. With its lucid analysis going deeper than the conventional wisdom that Turkish foreign policy has been peaceful and closed to outside influence, this is a welcome addition to Turkish studies and should attract the interest of the academic community as well as the foreign policy establishment in major capitals.' - M. Hakan Yavuz, Professor, Department of Political Science and the Middle East Center, University of Utah