ABSTRACT
Turkey is the only country that does not belong to the post-Soviet space. This chapter explores what the 'Turkish model' is and the sources of its sustainability. A new interpretation of the 'Turkish model' arose in the 2000s, and was associated primarily with developments under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the astonishing recovery of the Turkish economy. Russia and Turkey, the centers of once powerful continental empires, used to be the worst of enemies. The history of the relationship between the European Union and Turkey is extraordinarily dramatic and complicated. Turkish foreign policy has also experienced a process of gradual Europeanization, specifically in procedural changes and the increased use of diplomatic and economic instruments, as opposed to the use of military instruments. The notions of 'cooperation' and 'dialogue' may become more widespread in EU-Turkish relations than they previously were, at the expense of the authority power language of 'conditionality' and 'rules and norms transfer'.
