Turkish-Armenian Impasse in the Caucasus Security Complex

Abstract

This chapter discusses whether the new activism in Turkish foreign policy towards the Balkans is a novelty or not. It focuses on whether there is a change in Turkish foreign policy from a security-oriented Realist framework towards a more liberal one based on economic cooperation and non-state actors. The chapter concerns the analysis of Turkey’s current foreign policy within the context of historicity, in order to grasp the issues and processes of change. It argues that there has been a clear continuity in the activist Turkish foreign policy towards the Balkans following the end of the Cold War. Ahmet Davutolu is the decisive actor in the formulation of Turkish foreign policy in his role as the current foreign minister and as the long-term mastermind of the Adalet ve Kalknma Partisi’s (AKP’s) foreign policy line since the very beginning. Turkey’s supposedly new and enhanced activism led to criticisms, especially concerning the sensational term “neo-Ottomanism”. © 2011 Özden zeynep Oktav.