Turkish Policy in Central Asia

Abstract

The main foreign policy objective of the current Turkish Government (like that of its predecessors) is to secure Turkey’s full admission to the EU. This would result in the general acknowledgement of Turkey’s European credentials. The refusal of officials in Ankara to recognize the Kurds in Turkey as a separate ethnic minority and the human rights violations committed by the Turkish security forces in their attempts to crush the terrorist (Partia Karkaren Kürdistan) Kurdistan Workers’ Party, are seriously damaging the prospects of eventual Turkish admission to the EU. The Kurdish issue also has an important regional dimension. Thus, relations with neighbouring Iran, Iraq and Syria occupy a prominent position on Turkey’s foreign policy agenda. Problems with Greece in the Aegean and with Russia in the Transcaucasus also occupy much of the attention of decision makers in Ankara. Difficulties in the relationship with Russia put an added emphasis on the importance of ties between Turkey and the US.KeywordsKyrgyz RepublicTurkic StateTurkic PeopleTurkish EconomyOfficial LineThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.