Turkey’s Relations with the Middle East: Political Encounters after the Arab Spring

220 Pages·2018·2.59 MB·English

by  Hüseyin Işıksal

Hüseyin Işıksal · Oğuzhan Göksel E ditors
Turkey’s
Relations with
the Middle East
Political Encounters after the Arab
Spring
’
Turkey s Relations with the Middle East
Hüseyin Is¸ıksal (cid:129) O(cid:1)guzhan G€oksel
Editors
’
Turkey s Relations with the
Middle East
Political Encounters after the Arab Spring
Editors
HüseyinIs¸ıksal O(cid:1)guzhanG€oksel
DepartmentofInternationalRelations DepartmentofPoliticalScienceand
NearEastUniversity InternationalRelations
Nicosia,TurkishRepublicof Istanbul29MayisUniversity
NorthernCyprus Istanbul,Turkey
ISBN978-3-319-59896-3 ISBN978-3-319-59897-0 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-59897-0
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017949363
©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG2018
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt
fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained
hereinor for anyerrors oromissionsthat may havebeenmade. Thepublisher remainsneutralwith
regardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
Printedonacid-freepaper
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbySpringerNature
TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
_
To our families, Aliya, Bilgehan Irfan and
Hakan Halil Is¸ıksal and Necati and Nagihan
Go€kselwhosenon-politicallovelyencounters
with eternal love, support and courage make
us who we are.
Foreword
Due to its geopolitical location and historical ties, Turkey has long been a major
actorintheMiddleEast.Inrecentyears,thesignificanceofthecountryhasbecome
morepronouncedforbothdomesticandforeignpolicyreasons.Ontheinternational
stage,Turkeyhasbeendeeplyinvolvedinmanycomplexregionalandinternational
issuessuchastheSyriancivilwar,thepoliticalchaosinIraq,theaftermathofthe
Arabuprisings,theKurdishissueandtheSunni-Shi’adivide.Inthiscontext,since
2002, Turkey has adopted an assertive and interventionist Middle East policy,
under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). In the aftermath of
the2011Arabuprisings,Turkeywasproposedbymanyinternationalactors(such
astheEUandtheUSA)andcommentatorsasamodelfortheMiddleEastandthe
broaderMuslimworldbyvirtueofitssupposedachievementsineconomicdevel-
opment, secularisation and democratisation. However, these initial hopes have
subsided in recent years. The post-2011 Middle East international environment,
asthisvolume details, hasbecomemoreturbulentthan ever,andeven though the
uprisingsinitiallyseemedasahistoricopportunityfortheriseofTurkishinfluence
in the region, the outbreak of civil war in Syria (coupled with domestic develop-
mentsinTurkey)seemstohavemarkedthe“beginningoftheend”fortheTurkish
model. Domestic and international developments have also contributed to a more
troublesomesituationforTurkishpolitics,societyandeconomy.
Thisverytimelyvolume,editedbyDr.HüseyinIs¸ıksalandDr.O(cid:1)guzhanG€oksel,
focuses on these political, economic and social developments and on the interac-
tionsbetweenTurkeyandthepost-2011MiddleEast.Thevolumeclearlyfocuses
more on the foreign policy than on the domestic aspect of Turkish politics. This,
however, does not detract from the volume. The chapters cover a wide range of
issuesandoftendrawaninterestingcomparisonbetweendevelopmentsinTurkey
anddevelopmentsinothercountriesoftheregion.Perhapsevenmoreimportantly,
the chapters help in contextualising current developments in the Middle East and
TurkeybypointingtothehistoryanddevelopmentofTurkey’sforeignpolicyand
international posture. The volume’s breadth and the range of expertise of the
contributorsguaranteeacomprehensiveassessmentofTurkey’sforeignpolicy,of
vii
viii Foreword
its origins and conduct. From an empirical perspective, issues discussed in the
volume include among others the 2011 Arab uprisings, the civil conflict in Syria,
theemergenceofISISandtheKurdishquestion.Thevolume,however,alsooffers
valuabletheoreticalcontributionsbyassessingthestatusoftheliteratureofTurkish
foreign policy andTurkey’sroleinthe region, theriseanddecline ofthe Turkish
model as well as the strengths and weaknesses of Turkey’s posture of “Neo-
Ottomanism”. This is discussed by showing a deep knowledge and understanding
of various approaches in IR theory, including realism, Marxism and post-colonial
studies. This volume will benefit scholars and students interested in the political
affairs and foreign policy of Turkey. It will also benefit scholars with a more
general interest in contextualising and problematising recent developments in the
MiddleEast.
DepartmentofPoliticalandCultural LucaTrenta
Studies,SwanseaUniversity
Swansea,UK
Preface
The origins of this book lie in a decision that dates back to 2015 when we were
making one of our routine phone calls between Girne-I˙stanbul lines. There were
extensive discussions about the Turkish modelas a “model ofeconomic develop-
ment and democratisation” for the emerging post-uprising regimes of the Middle
East.Wenoticedthatalthoughtherewerevariousdiscussions,thetopicwasunder-
examined and often misunderstood as many seemed to ignore the challenges
inherent in the complex dynamics of this region. Therefore, we reached to the
consensus that this was the right time for a new volume with a broad range of
contemporary concerns that would contribute to the understanding of the Middle
Eastafterthe2011ArabSpringandTurkey’sincreasinglychallengingroleinit.
Writingandeditingsuchadetailedvolumeisnotaneasytask.Needlesstosay,it
couldnothavebeenpossiblewithouttheassistanceofanumberofcolleaguesand
friends.Thus,wewouldliketotakethisopportunitytothankthosewhohavekindly
providedtheirhelpandencouragementthroughoutthisproject.Firstofall,weare
verygratefultotheauthorsofthechaptersfortheirvaluablecontributions.Weare
also grateful to His Excellency Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy
Prime Minister of Turkey Murat Karayalc¸ın, Prof. Bülent G€okay and Prof. Tareq
Ismaelfortheirvaluablecommentsandreviews.WearealsothankfultoDr.Luca
Trentaforaninsightfulforeword.
We thank Simon Thompson from Near East University, Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus, for his assistance with the proof-reading of some chapters. We
would also like to acknowledge the gracious support given to us by our editor,
Dr.JohannesGlaeser,whosesuggestionshavesignificantlyimprovedthequalityof
themanuscript.
Much gratitude and appreciation are due to our parents Seval and I˙rfan Is¸ıksal
andNecatiandNagihanG€okselfortheirencouragementandever-presentsupport.
Weknowhowluckywearetobemembersofthesefamilies.Withoutyoursupport,
we wouldnotbecomewho we aretodayandthisendeavour wouldnothave been
possible.Wethankyouverymuchforeverythingfromthebottomofourhearts!
ix
x Preface
Finally,wewishtoseparatelynoteourgratitudetothefollowingpeople:
ThepersonstowhomI(HüseyinIs¸ıksal)personallyowethegreatestdebtaremy
family.IwouldliketothankmybeautifulwifeAliyaIs¸ıksalforherunderstanding,
encouragementandeverlastingsupport.Similarly,Iamsogratefultomytwobaby
sonsBilgehanI˙rfanandHakanHalilfortheirinspirationandkeepingmelessbusy
thanusualduringthepreparationofthebook.Inthisrespect,Iamsothankfultomy
mother Seval Is¸ıksal and my mother-in-law Alma Rakhmetullina for their contin-
uoussupportandtakingcareofmysons.
I (O(cid:1)guzhan G€oksel) thank with all my heart my colleagues and dear friends
Michelangelo Guida, Fabio Vicini, Emrah Safa Gürkan and O¨zgür U¨nal Eris¸.
Michelangelo Hoca has not only co-authored a chapter with me but also greatly
contributedtotherestofthisvolumewithhiswisecounsel,pleasantconversations
over coffee and [elder] brotherly support. My chats with Fabio and O¨zgür Hoca
havealwayscheeredmeupwhenfeelingnotparticularlyenergetic,andassuch,I
truly feel privileged for sharing an office with them. Last but not least, Emrah
(a.k.a.ESGthepirate)hascontributedtothevolumewithhishelpfuladviceonthe
publishingprocessaswellashiscompetitiveness!Iamsurethatourpleasantlittle
publication competition will continue to benefit “academia”—if not the academic
community,thensurelythewebsiteatleast!
Nicosia,NorthCyprus HüseyinIs¸ıksal
Istanbul,Turkey O(cid:1)guzhanG€oksel
Contents
1 Introduction:ThePoliticsofPowerAmidsttheUprisings
ofHope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
O(cid:1)guzhanG€oksel
PartI TheTurkishModelandtheArabSpring
2 TurkishForeignPolicy,theArabSpring,andtheSyrian
Crisis:OneStepForward,TwoStepsBack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
HüseyinIs¸ıksal
3 EurocentrismAwakened:TheArabUprisingsandtheSearch
fora“Modern”MiddleEast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
O(cid:1)guzhanG€oksel
4 TheRiseandFalloftheTurkishModelfortheMiddleEast. . . . . 53
StefanoM.Torelli
5 TiesthatBind:PopularUprisingsandthePolitics
ofNeoliberalismintheMiddleEast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
CemalBurakTansel
PartII Turkey’sRelationswithMiddleEasternPowersAftertheArab
Spring
6 PoliticalChaosinIraq,ISIS,andTurkishForeignPolicy:
TheHighCostoftheWestphalianDelusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
HüseyinIs¸ıksal
7 TheArabSpringandTurkish-IranianRelations,2011–2016. . . . . 105
SüleymanElik
8 AssessingtheRegionalInfluenceandRelationsofTurkey
andSaudiArabiaAftertheArabSpring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
KonstantinosZarras
xi