Ռազմավարական ինքնուրույնության պրոբլեմը Թուրքիայի ռազմավարական մշակույթի հարացույցում / The problem of strategic independence in the paradigm of Turkey’s strategic culture

Abstract

Turkey’s vision of the ways to achieve strategic independence was generalized and institutionalized after the revolutionary wave of the Arab Spring. Taking advantage of the favorable geopolitical situation, the Justice and Development Party was able to promote its Islamic-national conser­vative ideology in both domestic and foreign policy arenas, due to neo-Ottomanism leaving out of competition the republican strategic culture. Being under the defense and security auspices of the Collective West, but actually pursuing a regional policy ensuing from its own interests, Turkey is positioning itself as an independent player taking the challenges of competitive cooperation with regional and global players. Ankara achieves all this both at the expense of a drastic rise in the number of failed states in its immediate neighborhood and due to new systemic approaches targeted at strengthening Turkey’s positions and role in the new world order. In particular, given the overall context of its strategic culture, i.e., the comprehensive historical experience and narrow Turkish perceptions of peace and stability, Turkey has adopted and is gradually implementing its own formula for achieving strategic independence. In this regard, it has become imperative for Turkey to increase the number of flexible alliances and the degree of political-ideological, as well as economic-technological self-sufficiency, and reduce external dependence.