Background

Perceptions of threat have become key drivers of Turkish foreign and security policy.

Domestically, the June 2015 general elections and the July 2016 coup attempt were both perceived by Presidenr Erdoğan and the AKP Government as serious existential threats.

Regionally, Turkey has found it difficult to maneuver the intractable foreign and security policy environment.

Globally, partnerships with the US, the EU and NATO have become increasingly strained.

As a result, now former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s earlier so-called Neo-Ottoman doctrine of “strategic depth” has, it seems, been discarded as Turkey’s foreign and security policy guide.

The question is what to make of recent developments of Turkey’s relations with Russia, Syria, Israel and Kurdish groups in Turkey and the region?

How should we approach the ever more difficult balancing act between Turkey on the one side, and the US and Europe on the other? And more generally, what can we expect of Turkey’s foreign and security policy turn?

This one-day conference at DIIS will seek to address these questions by looking at them both from the point of view of domestic Ankara dynamics and from the perspective of regional dynamics.

Speakers

Behlül Özkan, Assistant Professor, Marmara University, Turkey

Aysegül Aydin, Associate Professor, Colorado-Boulder University, USA

Umut Özkirimli, Guest Professor, Lund University, Sweden

Steven A. Cook, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, USA

Pola Rojan Bagger, Middle East Analyst, Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke/ActionAid

Jakob Lindgaard, PhD Consultant

Flemming Splidsboel Hansen, Senior Researcher, DIIS

Anders Jerichow, Senior Correspondent, Politiken

Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke, Senior Researcher, DIIS

Programme

Læs videre på http://www.diis.dk/en/event/the-of-strategic-depth-in-turkey