ABSTRACT
The 1990s witnessed important changes in Turkish foreign policy behaviour in the Middle East. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the main threat to Turkey’s security ended. The Soviet threat was the main motive behind Turkey’s attachment to the Western alliance. The global changes of the time affected Turkish foreign policy. Just before the end of the Cold War, Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle East was described by Robins as “routine and well understood. In substance it was materially oriented and politically non-interventionist. In style it was low key and predominantly incremental. In essence it was intrinsically uninterested in and comparatively aloof from the Middle East, while studiously concerned not to appear to be projecting power beyond its borders.”1
