GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Under Erdogan, Turkey's Foreign Policy Is a One-Man Show

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Sinan Ciddi
Board of Contributors

Apr 22, 2018 | 14:44 GMT

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, speaks at the conclusion of the G-20 economic summit in Hamburg, Germany, during July 2017.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, speaks at the conclusion of the G-20 economic summit in Hamburg, Germany, during July 2017. G-20 leaders agreed somewhat on trade policy but disagreed on climate change policy.

(SEAN GALLUP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • While Turkey previously based its foreign policy on the suggestions of the armed forces, the civilian government and the foreign ministry, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan now single-handedly dictates the country's actions on the global stage.  
  • Erdogan's style of foreign-policy decision-making, a marked departure from the pragmatic approach of his predecessors, probably will pay off for the president in the snap elections he called for this summer.
  • In the long run, however, it will damage the relationships with the United States and Europe that previous Turkish leaders worked hard to cultivate.

For most of Turkey's modern history, its foreign policy drew from the suggestions of the armed forces, the civilian government and career professionals in the foreign ministry. The resulting policy formulations -- whether they produced positive or negative outcomes for Turkey -- emerged from a set process involving myriad interagency consultations over the country's capability, capacity and interests. Today, that is no longer the case. Since taking his current office in August 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the shots in Turkish foreign policy. The country's actions and objectives on the world stage are now a product of his preferences, rather than a deliberative process....

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