How should we read Turkey’s shifting foreign policy over recent decades? Once firmly aligned with the West through NATO membership and its long-standing pursuit of European Union accession, Ankara is now navigating a more independent course. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s series of pivots and seemingly non-committal stance on issues such as the Ukraine War, have kept the West guessing, as the country redefines its global role. At the same time, tensions with Washington and Brussels have intensified, as Ankara has strengthened ties with Moscow and Beijing. These shifts raise urgent questions: is Turkey truly breaking away from the West, or is it strategically balancing multiple alliances to maximise its influence on the world stage?
In this interview with Dr. Soner Çagaptay, we take a deep dive into the origins of modern Turkey’s foreign policy, from the founding of the Republic in 1923 under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, to today. We explore the country’s many identities and the driving forces behind its external relations, as well as the broader implications of its foreign policy as a significant middle power. From historic rivalries to fledgling alliances, NATO commitments to new regional partnerships, the discussion provides essential context to understand Turkey’s strategic direction today.
*VIDEO CHAPTERS*
00:00 Introduction and Titles
01:19 Turkish Foreign Policy Under Atatürk
05:54 How Did Turkish Foreign Policy Evolve From Thirties to Fifties?
11:55 Ankara’s Relationship With Soviet Russia
15:07 Turkey’s Thwarted Path To EU Membership
17:27 The Cyprus Issue And Erdogan’s Middle East Pivot
23:10 Turkey’s ‘Zero-Problems’ Foreign Policy and Regional Ties
28:54 Turkey’s Non-committal Stance on Ukraine War
37:52 Turkey’s Approach To Middle East
39:35h Ankara’s Rivalry With Tel Aviv and Tehran
45:37 The Evolution Of Turkey’s Global Soft Power
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For decades, Turkey looked West, focusing on NATO membership and joining the EU. But under Erdogan, the country has expanded its external relations in new directions. As well as trying to expand Turkey’s presence in the Middle East, he’s also flirted with Russia and the BRICS. All the while, the country has been trying to gain a greater presence in Africa and Central Asia. But is Erdogan’s dreams of making the country a major international actor realistic? Or will it simply be distrusted by all sides? And where should its focus really be? As always, I look forward to your thoughts and comments.
Your political views are on the target perfection for the people hat have no time to study history…
Did he say Turkey lived with Greece for 2000 years? What a strange comment.
Sayın prof. güzel bir videoyu olmuş. Bu sebeple eksik gördüğüm hususları tamamlamak istedim. Batı izafi bir kavram ve her varlık kendi iç çelişkileri ile vardır. Amerikalılar ve ortakları el kaideyi afganistanda birlikte kurdular. Afgan savaşından sonra işleri bittiğinde, kontrolden çıkarıldılar . Afgan Rus savaşı boyunca mucahitlere yapılan yardım aşiret, cemaat, tarikat ve medreseler üzerinden yapıldı. Surekli ortacag kurumlarına yatırım yaptılar. Bu süreçte, petrol coğrafyasında mutlak monarsiler desteklendi. Secilmisleri kontrol etmek için ılımlı islam, seçimler kaybedildiginde ise askeri darbeler desteklendi. Kaideyi Iraka Petraeus taşıdı. Sonra Suriye de işi bitenleri geri Afganistan taşıdılar. Ve Rusya'daki Tiyatro Salonu saldırılarını yaptilar. Bunlar tüm Dünya için güvensizlik kaynağı oldu. Artık kimse kimseye güven duymuyor. Bu Batının kendi içindede böyle. Şimdi Trump Bagram üssünü geri istiyor. Bu ise , yeni bir terör dalgası anlamına geliyor. Size göre Batı medeniyetinin kökeni Antik Yunan ve Roma. Bu yanlış bir analiz. Antik medeniyetler köleci idi ve surlar ile çevrili şehirlere hapsolmuş idi. Şehirler arasında o medeniyetlerin kapsamında yaşamayan topluluklar bulunuyordu. Hiç bir Antik medeniyet, bugünün modern Dünyasında bir ulusa karşılık gelmez. Ulus modern bir yapıdır. Batı medeniyetinin kökeni Rönesans dönemi ve aydinlanmadir. Soner Beyin eksik bıraktığı husus ise Türkiye sadece Balkanlardan değil, Kırım, Kafkasya ve bir miktar Ortadogu'dan göç aldı. Annan planına özellikle Balkan orijinliler hayır diyordu. Tripolice travması diyebilirsiniz. Anadolulular ise daha liberal baktılar. Sonuçta Turkler evet, Rumlar hayır dedi. Rumlar her zaman Adanın tamamını istediler. Ben kişisel olarak, tarihsel anlamda Batının parçası oldugumuzu fakat itildigimizi düşünüyorum. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk'ün de batıda sevilen bir karakter olmadığı ayrı bir konu. Çalışmalarınızda başarılar dilerim. ❤❤
Mr. Soner’s view on the start of our Republic is quite based and it seems he is holding a side. He talks about Atatürk as he wanted the enter “Europe” or return to “Europe” but this is far from the truth. He is trying to paint a picture that undermines Atatürks and his fellow arms men’s success. He talks about Erdoğan being pro Anatolian but that is untrue as well as his ideology is Islam and Arab based. Atatürks main goal was reviving the Turkish nationalism and Turkish culture. The regular Turks in the Ottoman Empire spoke Turkish and of course most of the population couldn’t write at that time. Atatürks main goal was against combating ignorism. He wanted people to learn easily how to write and read. The Latin alphabet is easier to write Turkish in unlike the Arabic alphabet and that’s the reason he went that way. Not “copying Europe”. His goal was to build a nation with educated and enriched people that’s a democracy and everyone has a voice.
Thanks again, professor. This great history lesson and up to date current Turkey global position as well as soft power projection that Turkiya has, especially in Africa.
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Enormous Thanks for The Anlysis, and the Guests for Anylising a difficult Global System
An excellent video – thank you
Turkish Foreign what..?!
Do not belittle what eoka did as merely a "conflict"
После распада РФ, тюрки РФ запросят Туран помочь восстановить производства. Дать турецкие технологии.
A lot of faulty analysis mixed in with the good analysis.
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👍
This was so interesting. Could have listened to another hour of it on my walk.
I didn't feel bored for a single moment. Was very well explained, and I Hope to hear more from both of You, this wonderful collaboration
This was very informative about Turkey's history. Thank you.
I'm Turkish-American, born and raised in the US and have been living in Türkiye for the past 20+ years. This is quite literally the best summative assessment of Türkiye's complex identity. Thank you for this!
🫡💪🏽✌🏽♥️
What a fascinating conversation. Thanks for the video
Denge politikası nedir bilir misiniz ?
Even the Turkish professor 😢
He keeps referring to the European Union 🇪🇺 as far back in the 1960s. There was no EU 🇪🇺 in the 1960s, it was a trade organization called the European Economic Community (EEC), which we used to call the Common Market because the EEC was not the bureaucratic, centralist monster that is the EU 🇪🇺 in which each member country kept its national sovereignty intact; it was a tariff-free (sort of) trade bloc.
Greece 🇬🇷 was admitted into the EEC in 1981, not in the 1970s before Portugal 🇵🇹 and Spain 🇪🇸 in 1986.
The EU 🇪🇺 we know today was established in 1993 by the Treaty of Maastricht, a city in Holland 🇳🇱.
This was great we don't learn much about Turkey in the US and it seems like a country to watch in the future
This was fascinating. Unfortunately, in Brazil we pay too little attention to Turkiye. I had to pause a few times to recap my history lessons! But we have so much in common, as middle powers and even this shifting geopolitical orientation. I wish we had closer ties, despite the distance.
Simply, great top-notch analysis with authority based on knowledge and with the distinction of insightful interpretation that only one knowing the culture can make.
Yesss pliiìis
One of your best interviews. Very interesting areas which I had never thought about.
Great conversation!
And what it means to you? Do you have an opinion, or are you searching for some?
Anatolia has been part of Roman Empire for longer than some parts of Europe, cities like Trabzon were part of western Civilization way before some cities in Europe. Ataturk’s Turkey trained PHD for sure and this is the quality of the results.
Great video! It was very interesting to learn a bit more about turkey. But there's one thing i think he deeply misunderstood or at least underestimated how much and how badly erdogan ruined the relationship with israel. And as long as he and his party are in power, it will never recover. Israelis used to see turkey as a friend, but now we see it as an enemy. And in his eagerness to pander to international islam, he partially decoupled the economic ties between our countries, making a complete break much easier and less painful. Furthermore, Israel is increasingly looking outwards and growing our influence in the region, and because of erdogan, we see turkey as a rival rather than a partner.
Well done. I really appreciate you for inviting him. He's the real scholar. Non biased and insightful. Thanks . 🇬🇧
türkiyeye silah satmayan nato ülkeleri rusyadan silah hava savunma sistemleri alınca yaptırıma uğrayan türkiye 50 yıldır ab ye alınmayan kapıda bekletilip bahane üretilen türkiyenin brıcs emi girecek rusya çin iran pakistan kuzey kore türki cumhuriyetler ve daha niceleri için natodan mı uzaklaşıyor demeleri tam bir saçmalık türkiye kimi isterse onunla hareket edecek ne taraf ta olucağına siz karar vereceksiniz
This has been a brilliant debate, hope this did contribute to your own views towards Türkiye too James. What I'm curious about is how these shape in the near future with the internal power dynamics within Türkiye, having past the days Erdoğan woukd cleanly have the backing of his electorate and having entered the decade of his natural lifespan, in a populace struggling economically and divided politically; where the foreign policy goes as Turkey either transitions peacefully into a new governance or pivots further into Authoritarianism and dominant rule under one strongman.
Çağaptay's analyses are nearly impartial and accurate. Turkey is part of the West; we've been in Europe for nearly 1,000 years. There hasn't been a single state that the Turkish Republic has been obsessively hostile to for 100 years. For over 90 years, there was a Europe-centric state spirit, and for the last decade, there has been a worldview centered on Europe and other countries, but Turks have always felt a sense of belonging to Europe, and that will remain the case.
It's Turkish not Turkey Airlines !!!!!
It contains very simple and effective information for us learners. Thank you for this short lesson video James.
Thanks