ABSTRACT

The end of the twentieth century has seen a series of events, including the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the September 11 attacks, bring about challenges to the international system. Turkish participation in both North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union (EU) peace-keeping operations in the Balkans has been important for the region's stability. In the aftermath of the US-led intervention in Iraq, Turkey was faced with the competing and sometimes conflicting foreign policies of Brussels and Washington with regard to the Middle East. Turkey, Washington and Brussels both support peace and stability in the region as part of their new security strategies. Some experts, who have drawn attention to continuities in the relationship in terms of Turkey's western-oriented foreign policy, beginning with the Tanzimat Reforms of the nineteenth century, speculate that Turkey 'may find itself in an undesirable position of having to choose between the United States and the European Union'.