Turkey’s changing foreign policy in a tumultuous region

On 15 September, Soli Özel will speak about Turkey’s foreign policy and its role both in the region and on the world stage. Mr Özel is a renowned political analist, columnist, and university lecturer at Istanbul’s Bilgi University.

Turkey’s increasingly assertive foreign policy, advocated by the charismatic Minister of Foreign Affairs (since May 2009) Ahmet Davutoğlu, has come under similarly increasing scrutiny in recent months. Starting out as an ambitious project to mend relations with its neighbours, Turkey’s diplomatic agenda has grown into a precarious complex of sometimes opposing interests. Traditionally good relations with Israel have gone awry over the recent Gaza incident and the reconciliation efforts with Armenia have stalled, whereas diplomatic friendship with Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and even Iran in a way seems to be flourishing.

Can Turkey live up to its own expectations of becoming a stabilizing factor in the region? Or is Davutoğlu’s agenda overstretched? And how do Turkey’s traditional allies view the change of orientation?   

Location and time: Netherlands Institute for International Relations Clingendael, Clingendael 7, The Hague - 15.00 hrs
Please register here.