ABSTRACT

This book discusses and analyses the dimensions of Turkey’s strategic rapprochement with the Eurasian states and institutions since the deterioration of Ankara’s relations with its traditional NATO allies.

Do these developments signify a major strategic reorientation in Turkish foreign policy? Is Eurasia becoming an alternative geopolitical concept to Europe or the West? Or is this ‘pivot to Eurasia’ an instrument of the current Turkish government to obtain greater diplomatic leverage? Engaging with these key questions, the contributors explore the geographical, political, economic, military and social dynamics that influence this process, while addressing the questions that arise from the difficulties in reconciling Ankara’s strategic priorities with those of other Eurasian countries like Russia, China, Iran and India. Chapters focus on the different aspects of Turkey’s improving bilateral relations with the Eurasian states and institutions and consider the possibility of developing a convincing Eurasian alternative for Turkish foreign policy.

The book will be useful for researchers in the fields of politics and IR more broadly, and particularly relevant for scholars and students researching Turkish foreign policy and the geopolitics of Eurasia.

chapter |14 pages

Introduction

Understanding the dynamics of Turkey’s pivot to Eurasia

chapter 1|16 pages

Turkey and the West

Geopolitical shifts in the AK Party era

chapter 2|17 pages

The return of Eurasianism in Turkey

Relations with Russia and beyond

chapter 4|15 pages

Heading towards the East?

Sino-Turkish relations after the July 15 coup attempt

chapter 6|18 pages

Turkey and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Common values, economics or pure geopolitics?

chapter 7|18 pages

Geopolitics, identity and beyond

Turkey’s renewed interest in the Caucasus and Central Asia

chapter 8|18 pages

Turkey’s energy security in Eurasia

Trade-offs or cognitive bias?

chapter 10|17 pages

Turkey and India

A relationship in progress

chapter 11|14 pages

Politics of new developmentalism

Turkey, BRICS and beyond