Specifics of Turkeyʼs Strategic Communications in the Postottoman Space (1992-2020)

Abstract

The article analyzes the nature of the impact of strategic communications of Turkey in the territories that were previously part of or under the political and religious influence of the Ottoman Empire, and explores the possible consequences of such interference for Ukraine. It is shown that the current foreign policy vector of the Republic of Turkey, largely formed under the influence of the doctrine of neo-Ottomanism, against the background of Ankara’s efforts to reach the position of supraregional leadership. As a result of the study, the division of integration priorities of the Republic of Turkey into 3 periods is proposed, which correlate with the main stages of development of all-Turkish, all-Islamic and world historical processes. The first - from 1920 to the middle / end 1930s, the second from the mid-1930s to the late 1980s / early 1990s, and the third from the early 1990s to the present. The first stage can be described as a period of «internal communication». 1920 became another bifurcation point in the history of the Turkish ethnic group. By this time, the Ottoman Empire and its allies had been defeated in the First World War. With the help of the latter, the Kemalists managed to stop the process of fragmentation of the interior of Turkey from the beginning, and eventually move to the return of the temporarily rejected territories. For the second period of communication efforts of the Republic of Turkey, the priority was to join the world’s leading security and political associations. In the context of our study, this stage can be described as a «period of forced external communication», when Ankara was to play the role of a «junior» partner of the United States and Great Britain. The period from the early 1990s to the present in the political history of the TR can be defined as a «stage of active external communication». Unlike the previous one, during this period, Turkey is increasingly acting as a subject of world politics, fighting for the status of regional leader.
According to the results of the analysis, the Black Sea region will remain one of the most important areas of strategic communications for the Republic of Turkey in the long run. The most serious obstacle to Turkey’s sole leadership on the Black Sea is Moscow’s geopolitical ambitions and the United States’ intention to extend its role as an arbitrator. The presence of the Muslim population on the territory of Ukraine, first of all, Crimean Tatars in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupied by the Russian Federation, is a constant factor that contributes to the further development of Ukrainian-Turkish strategic communications.