Analysis of Turkey's Foreign Policy in the Eastern editerranean during the Reign of the AKP

Identificator

EDN: NZZGDM ; УДК: 94(560)

Authors

Zhavoronkova Ekaterina Alexandrovna, senior lecturer at Department of Middle East Languages, Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Russia, Moscow. ResearcherID: IST-3526-2023. ORCID: 0009-0007-8836-873X. Е-mail: kate28112010@mail.ru

Journal

HERALD OF HUMANITARIAN EDUCATION №4 (40), 2025

Section

HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIP

Pages

74-84

Abstract

During the Cold War, the Eastern Mediterranean was viewed solely as a space for securing interests in the Middle East. However, the importance of this region has increased in recent years, and the Eastern Mediterranean has begun to assert its own identity in the 2010s. This article aims to analyze the Eastern Mediterranean dimension of Turkey's foreign policy, which has begun to emerge as a distinct focus. To achieve this goal, the following tasks must be completed: first, to examine the features of foreign policy during the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), including the evolution of foreign policy attitudes from "zero problems with neighbors" to "the century of Turkey"; second, based on the speeches of the Turkish President at the UN General Assembly sessions and the guidelines of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to determine the significance of the Eastern Mediterranean for Turkey; third, to identify Turkey's role in the regional balance. The study is limited in time frame: from the time of the AKP's coming to power in Turkey in 2002 until 2025. The gradual reorientation of Turkey's foreign policy since the AKP came to power (from the West to the East) has been a challenging process: Turkey's increased activity in the Mediterranean has led to negative reactions from its neighbors, and the country has been on the verge of complete regional isolation. The formation of a distinct Eastern Mediterranean foreign policy in Turkey has been a gradual process that has taken place over the years 2017–2024. During this time, Turkey has managed to overcome the opposition of the "balancing anti-Turkish coalition", emerge from isolation, gain the status of a regional power, and expand its influence in the Eastern Mediterranean, to the point where it has become a separate power in the region. Now Turkey faces new regional challenges.

Keywords

the Eastern Mediterranean the policy "zero problems with neighbors" the doctrine "Blue Motherland" the thesis "the world is more than five" the setting "century of Turkey"

Recieved

27.08.2025

Published

19.02.2026

References

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